Ultra-High Performance Concrete: Innovation, Practice, and Sustainability
28 May 2025 | 11:00 (CET)
Organized under the Natursea-PV project, this workshop highlights the potential of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) to address key challenges in offshore renewable energy. With its outstanding mechanical performance and durability, UHPC offers a reliable and sustainable solution for structures exposed to aggressive marine environments, such as XS2 and XS3. Aligned with the European Commission’s goals to unlock the potential of our oceans and accelerate the green transition, the workshop will showcase real-world applications where UHPC has proven successful, demonstrate its advantages as a sustainable material and the possibilities for reducing even further its carbon footprint, and reveal how its integration into precast factories can be both efficient and accessible for industrial players.
Agenda
| 11:00 – 11:15 | Mrs. Edurne Erkizia (TECNALIA) | Introduction of the NaturSea-PV project |
| 11:15 – 11:40 | Mr. Peter Buitelaar (Peter Buitelaar Consultancy) | Long term durability of UHPC in aggressive environments |
| 11:40 – 12:05 | Dr. Bendt Aarup (Hi-Con) | 35 years with UHPC – how are things different today with documentation and sustainability requirements? |
| 12:05 – 12:30 | Dr. Voo Yen Lei (DURA Technology Sdn Bhd) | Concrete Environmental Performance potential of UHPC bridge |
| 12:30 – 12:55 | Prof. Dr. Bernhard Middendorf (Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Kassel) | Sustainable and ecofriendly UHPC |
| 12:55 – 13:20 | Dr. Esteban Camacho (PREFFOR) | UHPC Quality Control: Latest Innovations and Distinctive Approaches |
The Speakers
Edurne Erkizia Jauregi
Dr. Erkizia has a large experience in the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles and nanomaterials using sol-gel synthesis and their addition to cement-based material in order to improve their properties or add new properties such as self-healing or energy storage. Lately, Dr. Erkizia has been working on the development of cement-based materials with thermal energy storage properties as well as on the development of more sustainable high performance and ultra high performance concretes using lower carbon footprint cements and polymer based fibres for marine environment. Currentlly she is the coordinator of Natursea-PV European project.
Bendt Aarup
Bendt Aarup is a Civil Engineer with more than 35 years of experience in working with UHPC. Since 2008 he has been R&D manager in Hi-Con, a pre-caster in Denmark that only produces UHPC for the Northern European market. He has authored more than 30 papers on design, applications and sustainability requirements for UHPC.
Peter Buitelaar
Peter Buitelaar has been working with UHPC for 40 years in the business areas civil engineering, wear protection and offshore for contractors and producers of UHPC.
Voo Yen Lei
Dr. Voo Yen Lei, Founder and CTO of Dura Technology, earned his PhD in Civil Engineering from UNSW in 2004. An expert in ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC), he has led the construction of over 300 UHPFRC bridges across Malaysia, China, and India. He is Adjunct Professor at Swinburne and Monash, and a multi-time winner of PCI and ACI international awards.
Bernhard Middendorf
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Middendorf is full professor and head of the Dept. of Structural Materials and Construction Chemistry and one of the directors of the Accredited Institute for Material Testing (AMPA) at University of Kassel, Germany. He is one of the organisers of the International Conference on Ultra-High Performance Concrete and High-Performance Materials (HiPerMat.de), which has been held at the University of Kassel, Germany every four years since 2004.
Esteban Camacho
Dr. Camacho is a Civil Engineer with more than 15 years of experience in the design and production of precast UHPC elements. He is co-founder of RDC and PREFFOR, an engineering and precast company especialized in this material.