TCL working with CEMEX

At a workshop at the Trinidad Hilton yesterday, Dr Davide Zampini, Managing Director CEMEX International Holding, Global R&D and Intellectual Property Head and Development Group, spoke about research and development the company is undertaking using its special admixtures.

Dr Zampini said that among the special products the company is looking at is what he described as pervious concrete which allows water to pass through.

He said this is useful in situations where a surface is required to drain water from the paved surface using as an example the tiles around a swimming pool.

He said CEMEX is the first company to produce a pervious concrete that can drain water and can reach the same flexile strength as standard concrete which he said is a big breakthrough.

He said that typically such materials have only been able to carry low loads and its use has been limited to parking lots where cars are travelling at very low speeds and the sides of roads and highways where it is used to collect and dispose of runoff.

However, he said that CEMEX’ innovation, using the right admixture, has allowed the company to develop this type of pervious cement which which can be used on highways and carry heavier loads, the first company to do this, though selecting the right materials and putting them together in the right way is the secret to developing the new pervious materials.

He said the company has been able to develop porous cement and control the porousity.

He said the company is also working on concrete using different types of materials to achieve different levels of permeability, porousity and strength. He said it is important for contractors, engineers and designers to understand the conditions on the ground and CEMEX has been able to do this so that it has not only designed the top part of the pavement which is porous but has been able to design the entire pavement so that it is able to drain the water completely even at maximum rainfall.

He added that in this type of concrete the top part of the material and the subsurface are able to drain the water completely away immediately from the subsoil and the surrounding area.

According to Dr.Zampini, using pervious concrete can allow water to flow and alleviate flooding problems in trouble- prone areas, adding that this technology can be brought to solve the flooding problems in Trinidad and Tobago.

He said his department is also experimenting with an architect who is designing a net zero energy building in Mexico and wants to apply CEMEX’ specialty cement to the facade of the building to cool the building.

He said the company has designed a fibre- reinforced concrete material which is bonded to the pervious concrete which will be applied vertically to the building and achieve significant cooling of the temperature in the building.

He said it was interesting because the concrete was not just being used horizontally but vertically as well or as envelopes for the building.

He also spoke about chemical contamination on the coastal areas of countries and coastlines which lack oxygen in the water and said the problem is how to oxygenate the water. He said one of the problems CEMEX has