Expertise & Construction Day is growing
The Expertise & Construction Day was originally planned to become the central meeting point for the French precast industry. That was the objective when the organizers held their first event in 2015. When held for the third time, on 6 July 2017, it was clearly evident that their offerings were appreciated in precisely the way that the organizers at the Center for Studies and Research in the Concrete Industry (CERIB) had intended, and that this event had increasingly become the primary meeting point of the precast industry.
The number of exhibitors – notably from the supplier industry and the media – has by now risen to 47. Among the exhibitors are such well-known international companies as Quadra, Sika, Schöck, Mapei, Ecoratio, WAM, Assyx, Eirich, Teka, Bibko, Bikotronic, Omya, Colle, Kniele, and Würschum. The trade journal BFT International, as media partner, was this year once again also represented with its own stand.
To accommodate the many exhibitors, Cerib, in addition to the many small tents that it set up on the institute parking lot, also for the first time, set up a larger exhibition tent with several wings, in which the majority of exhibitors found a place for their presentations. On a large stage in the tent, presentations were announced and discussion rounds took place.
Diagnosis system
for block manufacturers
Although Cerib has not yet published the official number of visitors, 400 to 500 professionals from the construction industry and the supplier industry, and from science and the media, are estimated to have traveled to Épernon once again. The research institute of the French precast industry was able to appropriately celebrate its 50th anniversary on this occasion – which also took place in 201617 (?) to coincide with the third and until now most successful Expertise & Construction Day.
The program of lectures was held in the auditorium of one of the institute buildings, adjacent to the event tent. This year, it comprised five lectures on current research topics addressed by the institute, including research on recycling of concrete, and work on Abilys SB 2.0 – a diagnosis system for block machines that Cerib has developed jointly with the engineering company Adler and concrete block manufacturers.
Research into
the recycling industry
Abilys is an analysis tool for ensuring consistently high quality of manufactured concrete products and for reducing waste. The sensors, which are installed in the production boards, measure, among others, the uniformity of compaction of the individual blocks in a mold. The diagnostic software indicates where irregularities occur, where adjustments on the block machine must be made, and where the machine itself may require realignment or servicing.
According to Cerib, Abilys can be installed on location at block manufacturers’ facilities, without having to modify their plant engineering.
The Expertise & Construction Day 2017 was rounded off by tours through all research laboratories on Cerib’s extensive grounds, which included presentation by scientists of the institute of their results on the topicRecycling Industry: e.g., recycled concrete and alternative raw materials, such as hemp. New this year was a multimedia exhibition on the phases of development of concrete and concrete technology from the beginning to the present – which was of great interest to the visitors.
Text: Christian Jahn, M. A.
