High Hopes for Seawater Concrete

A new consortium has been launched to facilitate the adoption and expansion of seawater concrete applications reinforced with glass fibre reinforced polymer rebars.

Supported by the American Concrete Institute which established Committee 243 – Seawater Concrete, the NovusCrete Consortium comprises Sika and ClimateCrete along with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) Saudi Investment Recycling Company, and global business hub NEOM.

Institute Gold member, Sika, specialises in bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing and protection in the building sector while ClimateCrete has a technology that turns desert sand into aggregate for concrete that uses little water.

NovusCrete’s aim is to accelerate technological advancements in sustainable concrete solutions while prioritising the use of seawater, polymer-based materials, recycled construction and demolition waste, and fine sand.

The consortium’s focus is to support the development of new technologies that can deliver sustainability and cost benefits for the building and construction industries and set up guidance.

“NovusCrete Consortium, led by OSP [Oil Sustainability Program], will aim to develop standards and codes on the use of seawater in concrete and promote sustainability in the building and construction sectors by recycling waste, extending infrastructure lifespan and reducing the environmental impact of the sectors,” the PIF reported.

Image: Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

About the author

Desi Corbett

Desi is the Editor of Concrete in Australia and at the helm of our magazine for 8 years. She was behind the Institute's weekly news bulletins from 2016-2021 and is now writing our focused news items. Desi has been an engineering news and features journalist/editor across all disciplines since 2013 - part of a 30-year career writing for a wide range of industries.