Abstract:
Concrete is the second-most used substance on Earth after water, and the production of cement accounts for at
least 5% of the planet’s carbon emissions. Concrete has all sorts of excellent properties, which should not be
overlooked, but it seems clear that we should be exploiting these fine properties against a backdrop of needing to
look carefully at how we manage our concrete infrastructure sustainably. We need to use realistic approaches to
understand structural integrity of our existing concrete infrastructure if we are not to needlessly condemn
adequate structures. We need to understand how to prolong the life of existing concrete structures in a robust,
proven and cost-effective manner, again so that additional carbon- and energy-related costs associated with
rebuild are avoided. And we need to design our future concrete structures with the most important property of
concrete at the forefront, namely its moudability, something which is seldom exploited, such that efficient use of
concrete is ensured. This paper outlines research conducted in the BRE Centre for Innovative Construction
Materials at the University of Bath in these areas of structural strengthening and future innovative design of
concrete structures. The paper focuses on the role that structural fabric can play in contributing to these aims.
