T he Seminar on Life Cycle Management for Infrastructure - Utilization of Chemical and By-product Admixtures for Concrete Structures, was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on April 16 and 17, 2015. The seminar was organized by the Vietnam Concrete Association (VCA), JSCE, and Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP). The seminar is the third joint seminar for JSCE and VCA. The first and second joint seminars were held in 2012 in Hanoi and in 2013 in Ho-Chi-Min City, respectively.
In Vietnam, the annual total amount of fly ash, an industry by-product, is expected soon to reach approximately 25 million tons. Therefore, the application of this by-product to concrete admixtures is becoming urgent. On the other hand, the maintenance of concrete structures is also a topic of concern in Vietnam. Both by-product admixtures and high-performance chemical admixtures are expected to enhance the durability of concrete structures. The theme of this seminar reflects these situations in Vietnam.
Approximately 150 engineers and researchers attended this seminar. The Vietnamese deputy minister of construction and president of the VCA, Lê Quang Hùng, as well as the vice director of the Department of Science and Technology, the vice president of the Vietnam Society of Civil Engineering and the vice president of Water Resources University attended as guests.
The seminar opened with an address by Mr. Nguyern The Hung (vice president of VCA). Dr. Etsuro Sakai (Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology) spoke on behalf of the Japanese speakers. Five Japanese speakers made presentations about basic characteristics, the latest Japanese technology, application examples, and standard specifications for concrete admixtures. Dr. Akira Ohta (BASF Japan Co., Ltd.) spoke about chemical admixtures for concrete. Mr. Yasukazu Ueki (Nippon Slag Association and Nippon Steel Sumikin Blast furnace Cement Co., Ltd.) gave a presentation on blast furnace slag. Dr. Takeshi Yamamoto (Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry) gave a presentation on fly ash. Prof. Etsuro Sakai gave a presentation on silica fume. Dr. Asamoto (Associate professor, Saitama University) introduced the JSCE standard specification for admixtures.
Three speakers from VCA made presentations. Mr. Kim Jong Son (Silkroad Vietnam) introduced their admixture product and the development technology behind it. Ms. Naguyen Thi Thu Huong (Water Resource University) gave a presentation on general knowledge regarding the applicability of admixtures for marine structures. Mr. Nguyen Duc Phuong (Denki Kagaku Kogyo) talked about the application of expanding admixtures in Japan.
During the discussion period, many topics of high concern for Vietnamese engineers regarding developing technologies were discussed. These topics included a new theoretical chemical admixture for use as an accelerator, agendas for Vietnam to establish design codes on the durability of concrete structures built using admixtures, mix design and strength design specifications for high-strength concrete, the consideration of admixture reactions when verifying thermal cracking, and so on.
In the seminar, VCA stated its intentions to continue holding joint seminars and enhancing technological exchanges in order to consolidate their standards. The joint seminar ended in great success.
Table 1 Seminar Program
