CEMCON 2010

The Indian Concrete Institute (ICI) Pune centre is orgnising 'CEMCON 2010' on the theme of "Precast Concrete Technology - Redefining Mass Housing & Infrastructure in India" at YASHADA (Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration), Rajbhavan Complex, Baner Road, Pune on Feb 18-19-20, 2010.

The purpose of CEMCON is to deliberate on the current issues related to cement concrete industry. It aims to provide a forum for exchange of expertise and experience among researchers, practitioners and administrators on the latest development in the concrete world, which is a genuine need of present days highly urbanized world.

The event shall consist of a conference and an exhibition and the sub themes are

• Precast concrete prospects & opportunities in india
  
• Possibilities with precast concrete
  
• Sustainability through precast concrete
  
• Architectural precast concrete
  
• Life cycle costs & cost comparisons with other technologies
  
• Challenges in production processes of precast concrete
  
• Techniques in transport, erection and construction of precast concrete
  
• Design aspects in precast concrete structures
  

For more details, please contact:

Convener, CEMCON 2010
Arkey Conference Service Cell
37/4/A, 6th Lane, Prabhat Road,
Pune 411 004.
Tel: 020 - 25674455/25670808
Fax: 020 - 25672555
E-mail: convener@cemcon.org
rtk@cemcon.org

International conference on construction chemicals

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) (Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Division) jointly with Dept of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt. of India is organising a two-day 'International Conference on Construction Chemicals' on February 11-12, 2010 at Hall of Culture, Nehru Centre, Worli. Mumbai.

The construction chemicals has variety of applications from concrete 'modification' to precision machine foundations, flooring for malls & sports and rehabilitation of complex structural problems. The major applications are: admixtures, precision grouts for machine foundations, tilling adhesives, waterproofing, repair & rehabilitation, sealants, caulks & putties, water repellents, industrial & commercial flooring treatments.

Currently the market size of construction chemicals is Rs. 1800 crores expected to touch Rs. 4500 crores by 2013 at a CAGR of 22%. Construction chemicals accounts for only 2% of over all costs but benefits are in multiples. Growing areas such as 100 percent FDI in the real estate sector has given a major boost to the already fast growing construction industry.

The objective of the conference is to discuss the challenges, market opportunities, advance case studies and strategic tie ups for technology transfers in this sector. The conference would be useful for the leading construction chemicals manufacturers, consultants, cement manufacturers, architects, engineers, developers, builders and suppliers.

The theme of the event is 'Imperatives for enhancing Consumption of Construction Chemicals in India'

The topic of the sessions are

• Overview of construction chemicals
  
• Admixtures and others
  
• Basic repair in constructional
  
• Water proofing chemicals
  
• Flooring compounds
  
• Advance strategic & rehabilitation
  
• Challenges, market opportunities & strategic recommendations
  

For more details, please contact:
R K Bhatia / Ranjita C. Sood
Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Division
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
Federation House,
1 Tansen Marg, New Delhi-110 001
Tel: +91-11-2331 6540 / 2335 7350 (Dir)
EPBX: +91-11-2373 8760-70 (Extn 395/ 474)
Fax: +91-11-2332 0714/ 2372 1504
Email: rkbhatia@ficci.com, ranjita@ficci.com

India needs world class roads - Enough scope for cement industry to meet road construction requirement

Delivering the inaugural address at the National Seminar on Concrete Highway Projects organised by CII and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India in New Delhi, Mr. Kamal Nath, Minister of Road Transport & Highways, said that the cement industry has an important role to play in the vast programme for construction of national expressways. His ministry would prefer to use concrete for all greenfield highway projects. Commenting on the current performance of the Cement Industry the Minister noted that the sector was doing well. But he further added that if the highways programme of India looks at incremental usage of concrete, then the cement industry in India must assure adequate capacity and supply as the additional demand from new roads, highways and expressways projects is considerable. Mr. Kamal Nath further added that the cement industry has an important role to play for concrete highway projects. The minister informed, "There is a need to have atleast 20,000 km of work-in-progress to be able to attain 20 kilometers of road building capacity per day or 7000 km of roads a year". He felt this was a huge challenge for the government and industry. According to the minister this translates to approximately USD 50 billion of investments every year.

The minister said that India has started manufacturing world class vehicles and therefore, the country deserved world class roads, which his ministry was committed to build. Highlighting the importance of using the latest in improved technology and processes in this context, he said "Let us do things differently".

In his special address, Mr. Brahm Dutt, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, informed that the government's National Highways Development Project (NHDP) was aiming at building 6 and 8 lane highways in the next 4-5 years costing over USD 80 Billion. He mentioned that an equal amount would be spent on road projects at the state level.

Mr Brahm Dutt announced that the government will implement its green field project of building 16,000 km of expressways at an investment of US 100 Billion once sufficient progress is made in the current National Highways projects. This project would be routed through the BOT mode and concrete applications would be a considerable part of the project. Mr. Brahm Dutt said Government's road building programme is formidable and offers considerable opportunity to all stakeholders including cement. He added that Expressways can be built mostly with cement but quality and supply must maintain paramount standards.

Dr. Shiraz Tayabji, Senior Consultant from Fugro Consultants, USA in his address mentioned that India has made good progress in road building, adopting new techniques, technology and equipment usage. He said India is capable of building world-class roads. In his presentation, he mentioned the advantages of concrete pavement projects over bitumen applications, saying the world can no longer afford to shut-down roads for repairs.

Mr. Paul Hugentobler, Member of Executive Committee, Holcim Ltd., in his special address said "there is presently a renaissance in concrete roads". He mentioned that cement as a raw material had maintained its price level over the last couple of years as compared to asphalt. He said the cost difference between concrete and asphalt roads is narrowing and would soon be reverted. He urged the government to invest more money in developing concrete road systems and reaffirmed the readiness of the cement industry to contribute meaningfully to India's concrete road projects. "India has achieved air and telecommunication connectivity. Now to push growth, the country must achieve physical connectivity through roads for connecting urban and rural areas", he added.

Mr. Sumit Banerjee, Chairman of the CII Cement Industry Division, in his address mentioned that barely 40% of total road length is surfaced and much of this is of questionable quality. Only a paltry 2 per cent of total road length in the country is made of concrete, the rest is made largely of bitumen. He mentioned that concrete roads have a life cycle of 50 years and also help save 15% in fuel consumption. Citing norms in Europe, Mr. Banerjee said, "With fly-ash based cements, it is possible for concrete roads to be cost competitive apart from this being an environment friendly practice. Concrete roads can play a useful role in the gainful deployment of a waste pollutant like fly-ash."

- www.yourstory.in 15.01.2010

National get-together on road research and its utilisation

The Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) is organising a two day National Get-Together during March 5-6, 2010 at CRRI, Delhi-Mathura Road, New Delhi.
Infrastructure development in India has set off in a major way in the past few years. Roads occupy a prominent position in India's Transportation scenario as they carry nearly 70 per cent of freight and 85 per cent of passenger traffic. At 3.3 million km of total road length, India has the second largest road network in the world next to USA. Road transport has come to occupy this privileged position because of its flexibility, accessibility to remote areas and adaptability to changes for achieving the desired objective of connectivity. Presently, a big thrust in the ongoing road development programmes is being planned by the Government.Apart from mobilising such huge resources, we need to tackle the bigger task of construction and maintenance of road asset. Sustainability of level of service of roads for catering to the needs of ever increasing traffic is a major challenge that is being faced by the highway professionals. The existing norms for suitability of materials, pavement design procedures and the criteria of serviceability need to be addressed to meet the present day traffic requirements for economical and comfortable road travel. A new dimension has been added in this scenario due to Private Sector Participation in a big way - Private investors (Concessionaires) are interested in fast track delivery and most economical construction in order to reduce the gestation period. Issues like highway capacity, traffic forecasting techniques, etc need further refining to help mobilization of private capital. All these call for a fresh look at our Codes of Practices, Guidelines and Specifications. For achieving this, a massive Research and Development (R&D) effort suiting to our country's need is of paramount importance. The emphasis of R&D efforts should be to create road infrastructure which lasts longer, makes optimal use of natural resources and where possible, using recycling technologies to conserve construction materials.

The Central Road Research Institute is organising this event with the following objectives:

1. To provide a forum for intensive interaction between road researchers and user agencies towards identification of R&D efforts and sharing of data, experience and infrastructure.
   
2. To provide a forum for in-depth discussion on various aspects ill of results of research already available and on measures for ~ their fuller utilisation.
   

The Get-Together provides a forum for highway engineering community, researchers, experts, technocrats, academicians associated with road development in our country to deliberate on the following issues through presentations of case studies.

• Pavement engineering and materials
  
• Innovations in traffic and transportation engineering . Rural roads
  
• Technologies for faster construction of bridges
  
• Geotechnical aspects related to road construction
  

The event would include key note addresses, invited papers and panel discussion. The fee is Rs. 2500 per delegate.

For more details, please contact:

Dr. S. Gangopadhyay
Director, CRRI & Chairman, Organizing Committee
Central Road Research Institute
Delhi-Mathura Road, P.O. CRRI
New Delhi-110025
Ph (0) : 26848917, 26823437
Fax: 26845943, 26830480
E-mail: director.crri@nic.in

RAPAVE 2010

The Department of Civil Engineering of M.V.S.R Engineering College, Hyderabad is organising a national workshop on "Recent advances in pavement engineering" (RAPAVE 2010) during March 26 - 27, 2010 at Hyderabad,

The main objective of the workshop is to provide an update in the field of pavement engineering through lectures by prominent speakers from reputed technical institutes, R&D organisations and consulting firms. The proposed workshop would also provide a bridge between fundamental and advanced learning for young researchers, academicians and practicing engineers.

The proposed workshop will cover the following themes.

• Reinforced Earth
  
• New trends in the Pavement Analysis
  
• Recent Advances in Material Characterization
  
• Alternate materials in pavement construction
  
• Design of Composite pavements
  
• Pavement Maintenance & Management
  
• Pavement distress evaluation
  
• Recycling Techniques in pavement construction
  
• Highway project management Models like PPP, BOT etc.
  

The workshop is targeted at faculty members especially those specialised in transportation engineering or geotechnical engineering from technical institutes, post graduate students, practicing highway engineers and researchers from R & D organisations, qualified contractors involved in pavement construction will be eligible to attend the workshop.

The last date for submission of application forms for registration is 1 Mar, 2010

For more details, please contact:

Prof. S.G.S Murthy,
Coordinator, RAPAVE-2010,
Professor & Head,
Department of Civil Engineering,
MVSR Engineering College,
Nadergul, Hyderabad, 501510.
Mobile: +91-9985019240,
+91-9966920375
+91-9966906357
Email: rapave2010@gmail.com

ACECON 2010

The Indian Concrete Institute in association with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai is organising ICI Asian Conference on Ecstacy in Concrete 2010 during December 6-8, 2010 at IIT Madras, Chennai.

Concrete is the single most important requirement for any infrastructural development. It is the most used man-made material in the world. It accounts for more than all the other building materials put together. As of 2006, about 7.5 cubic kilometres of concrete are made each year. That is more than one cubic metre for every person on Earth. Concrete industry employs many million workers around the world. India is the second largest consumer of concrete in the world.

Today the challenges are many on designing concrete structures that are sustainable, safe, green and complex in nature. On the other side, concrete also accounts for about 6% of the total manmade greenhouse gas release. 'Asian Conference on Ecstasy in Concrete' (ACECON) is one such conclave that ICI has been conducting since 2000. The 3 day conference will feature all aspects of concrete construction with the theme 'Ecstasy in Concrete' and the sub-themes are

• Advances in the Material Science
  
• Special Concretes
  
• Resistance against extreme events
  
• Concrete for Sustainable infrastructure
  
• Quality assurances & Performance assessment
  
• Repair, rehabilitation and Retrofitting
  
• Formwork and Construction Equipment
  
• Case Studies
  

The due date for abstracts of papers is 30th April 2010 and full paper is 31st August 2010.

The event is targetted at:

• Professional engineers, architects & interior designers, concrete technologies, technocrats, academicians, research scholar, consultants, planners, infrastructural professionals & key senior government officials, students from engineering & technical institutes,
  
• Delegates from construction companies,
  
• Suppliers of aggregates, reinforcement & admixtures, building contractors & construction material suppliers & distributors,
  
• Investors, promoters and real estate developers,
  
• Project management consultants, building materials & construction machinery traders.
  

For more details, please contact:

Prof. Dr. Ravindra Gettu,
Organising Secretary 'ICI-ACEON 2010'
Dept of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras,
Chennai 600 036
Tel: 91-44-22574266
Fax: 91-44-22574252
Email: gettu@ici-acecon2010.com
Web: www.ici-acecon2010.com