Reducing costs with ultra-high performance RiKi Ceton

Since the beginning of 2022, prices for construction materials only know one direction: upwards. At the same time, capacities were (and are being) reduced at the producers – owing to sharply rising energy costs – or the production was stopped completely. Supply chains were interrupted and, in addition, there was a shortage of containers and port staff as well as a congestion of cargo vessels and overstocked warehouses at individual ports. There has also been again a growing number of reports on „panic buying“ as a precaution against further price increases, resulting in additional demand and thus further rising prices.

Driven by this dramatic price evolution, building contractors were urged to save construction materials as far as possible or to search for alternative, more cost-effective construction methods. With the newly developed ultra-high performance concrete, the Hans Rinninger u. Sohn GmbH u. Co. KG concrete plant based in Kisslegg offers a good solution for saving materials and simplifying construction procedures.

Concrete becomes Ceton

„Concrete becomes Ceton^®“ – with this slogan, the concrete manufacturer located in the Western Allgäu region of Germany promotes the new material. Ceton stands for RiKi (= Rinninger Kisslegg), an ultra-high performance concrete featuring ductile properties in accordance with the DIBT technical approval No. Z-74.4.178. It represents a new generation of concrete because it has significantly improved product properties as against a standard concrete, despite the use of binders with reduced clinker content. With a flexural strength of between 16 and 20 N/mm² and a compressive strength of 129 N/mm², the material has properties that are similar in magnitude to those of metals but without compromising in ductility.

At present, RiKi Ceton is primarily used for the production of slot drains for surface drainage. The remarkable aspect here is that by using this concrete, the interaction of drain and subbase is optimized considerably, thus allowing the reduction of costs. Using RiKi Ceton products represents a good solution to counteract the general price evolutions of construction materials and to make an ecological contribution just as well: keyword carbon dioxide reduction. The concrete plant situated in the administrative district of Ravensburg, distributing its products throughout Europe, is using the RiKi Ceton material, in the meantime, in a wide range of products, among others, for pipes and manholes in underground construction and elements for the protection of amphibians.