Trade Journals for the Concrete Industry

The advantages of steel reinforced precast concrete garages are indisputable: inexpensive, uncomplicated procurement, good longevity, and variable design. However, one important trend in the precast sector can only be pursued to a limited extent, i.e. the progression towards lightweight designs with the thinnest walls possible in order to generate savings on materials and to facilitate transportation through an accompanying reduction in weight. All possible avenues for reducing wall thickness have been exhausted in constructing with steel reinforced concrete, since minimum concrete coverage is necessary for protecting reinforcement liable to corrosion. As an alternative, textile reinforced concrete will be utilised in future for such applications. This new, innovative composite material is reinforced by means of corrosion resistant AR glass fibres (Alkali Resistant), which do not need to be protected by a concrete covering. Just a few millimetres are needed to create a satisfactory bond between the concrete and textile reinforcing. In the following, the profitability of a garage made from textile reinforced concrete will be analysed in respect of criteria pertaining to cost, environment and design then compared with a steel reinforced garage, with a view to determining this new construction material’s potential for applications in the precast industry.