Summary 62012 87summaryThemeUHPCUltra high performance concrete (UHPC) is amaterial with a great potential for thedevelopment of innovative constructions.This edition provides an outline of the latestdevelopments, possibilities and experiences.Is UHPC the future? (pp. 4 - 9)Concrete has been undergoing a period ofrapid development recently. For example,self-compacting concrete (SCC) is rather thenorm than an exception in today's concreteindustry. Lately, higher strength concreteshave attracted particular attention, but theuse of high strength concrete (HSC), veryhigh strength concrete (VHSC) and ultra highperformance concrete (UHPC) is far frombeing a matter of course. This article outlinesthe developments and possibilities for HSC,VHSC and UHPC without focussingexcessively on structural aspects such asfatigue, moments of inertia, modulus ofelasticity and calculation rules.UHPC: sustainable and cost effective(pp. 10 - 13)Ultra high performance concrete is one ofthe most modern types of concrete thathave been developed during the last tenyears. The material is generally characterizedby its high compressive strength of 120 MPato 200 MPa. Certain special high-tech typeseven have a strength to 500 MPa. Slowlymore and more projects are going to berealized worldwide, showing the potential ofthis new kind of cement bonded material.Modular UHPC bridge tested (pp. 14 - 18)Market research has found that Dutch localauthorities have a need for maintenance-freebridges. To respond to this need,FDN Engineering has developed a conceptfor modular bridges in fibre-reinforced, ultrahigh performance concrete. At the sametime, the city of Rotterdam was engaged inits own research into traffic bridges made ofultra high performance concrete. Theydecided to join forces. The first bridge wasproduced and tested recently.Ultra thin balconies (pp. 20 - 27)A Dutch system of ultra thin balconies hasbeen developed in a partnership betweenPieters Bouwtechniek and the Danishcompany Hi-Con. However, before theexisting Danish system could also be used inthe Netherlands, calculation methods andconstruction principles had to be radicallyrevised to take account of Dutch regulationsand construction practice. The balconieswere first used in the Amber house-buildingproject in Delft. At their thinnest point theyare just 65 mm thick.Learning together and from one another(pp. 28 - 32)Ultra high performance concrete has greatpromise for the construction market.Impressive pilot projects with bridges andspans in nearby countries such as France,Germany and Austria, and in more remotelocations such as Korea and Canada, awokeour enthusiasm. However, in the Netherlandsit went no further than its ceremonialintroduction in 2005 at the now verywell-known folly at Zonnestraal. A lack ofknowledge, technical regulations and(supposed) high costs turned out to besticking points for use in larger projects. TheCement&BetonCentrum (Cement&Concrete-Centre) has come up with an initiative tostimulate knowledge development andacceptance. Case studies turned out to bethe way of bringing parties together for jointknowledge development.Filigrain UHPC park bridge (pp. 34 - 38)One of the UHPC case studies conducted bythe Cement&BetonCentrum was associatedwith the construction of a park bridge in therural estate of Voorstonden (municipality ofBrummen, property of the VerenigingNatuurmonumenten (Nature ReservesAssociation)). A design team was formed forthis realistic case that brought togetherarchitecture, construction, production andimplementation. Maximum slimness and anorganic image were the leading themes ofthe design. This resulted in the`slimmest(concrete) bridge deck in the world'and afiligrain handrail.Own concept thanks to UHPC (pp. 40 - 43)The city of Utrecht has plans for a slow trafficconnection between the old town and thenew construction in Leidsche Rijn. Thisprompted the industrial designer Rogier dela Rive Box to take the initiative for thedesign of the cycle bridge`Het Oog'(TheEye). The options for realising thisconnection in ultra high performanceconcrete were investigated, and the designtailored to the properties of the material.Cycle bridge in UHPC (pp. 44 - 48)The city of Utrecht has plans to realise a cyclebridge over the Amsterdam-Rhine canal. Thisbridge would shorten the various cyclingroutes between the Leidsche Rijn district andthe city. The question of whether thisconnection could be designed as an archedbridge in fibre-reinforced ultra highperformance concrete was investigated in athesis.UHPC en-route to regulation (pp. 50 - 55)Ultra high performance concrete is a materialwith a great potential for the developmentof innovative constructions. If this potentialis to be realised on a larger scale, however,design guidelines are needed. Suchguidelines need to take into account socialdevelopments as well as the properties ofthe material. This article investigates thedevelopment of guidelines for ultra highperformance concrete.Outside the subjectA sharp eye for landscape (pp. 64 - 67)The Hercules monument is located in theBergpark Willemsh?he (Willemsh?hemountain park) in Kassel. This monument,with its famous fountains and waterfalls, hasbeen a fascinating tourist attraction for300 years. Staab Architekten designed a newvisitors'centre that lies as an interfacebetween the park and the parking area. Theentrance building of the park is designed asa secondary element in the landscape; alarge sculptured stone. Clean concrete inpolygonal shapes is used both on theinternal and external fa?ades. As a result theenvironment seems to continue into thebuilding.Highest office towers in Flanders (pp. 68 - 71)The MG Tower, officially the KBCArteveldetoren, is an office building in theBelgian town of Ghent. At 119m, the tower,which lies along the E40 near the Sint-Denijs-Westrem exit, is the highest office building inFlanders. It will be the regional headquartersof the bank insurer KBC. The buildingopened its doors on 20 April 2012.`As built' in a 3D model (pp. 72 - 79)On the Piet Heinkade to the east of the CentralStation in Amsterdam, building work isunderway on a new project: the Piet HeinBuildings.This attractive site was the lastempty space on the southern bank of the IJ.The project comprises 30 000 m2of officespace, an underground car park and a busterminal. In this building, all prefab elements,the steelwork and the poured-in-place wetconnections including reinforcement werefully engineered`as built'in a single 3D model.This resulted in a shorter construction timeand meant that problems of fit on theconstruction site and in the factory could beavoided.Deformations in prefab wall constructions(pp. 80 - 84)In current design practice it is becoming moreand more common for designers to beexpected to produce a prefabricated versionof a monolithic concrete structure. If the wallconstruction also represents a stability systemin a high-rise building, a thorough analysis ofthe design and the deformations isindispensable. We know that the connectionsbetween the concrete elements weaken theconstruction somewhat. This gives rise to areduction in strength and stiffness. It isdifficult to predict the magnitude of thisreduction at the design stage. Calculationswere performed for a large number of wallsystems in an attempt to investigate whichvariables are critical for the increase indeformation. The slimness, the connectionsand the element distribution were varied. If you would like a whole article fromCement translated, why not let usarrange it for you? Prices start from 100per page (actual price on request).We can supply either bare text or aprofessionally laid out article. For moreinformation please contact ?neas:0411 65 00 85, lezersservice@aeneas.nl.