Current Practice Note 22 – Non-destructive Testing of Concrete has recently been released.  This publication is the result of a review and update of the Concrete Institute of Australia, Current Practice Note 22 – 1987, ʻInsitu Testing of Concrete – A Reviewʼ by Samia Guirguis.
    Much of the work and text presented in the previous publication has been adopted here directly as most of the test methods and principles of the tests remain the same. In several cases testing equipment has been developed and improved in some manner and the text and images have been updated accordingly. Several new tests have been included, such as Ground Penetrating Radar, as have several other tests that are now commonly utilised to provide concrete durability performance information in Australia today (Sorptivity and Chloride Penetrability).
    It is not the intention of this publication to provide full details and interpretation instructions for all available non-destructive concrete test methods, but rather to present the tests that are commonly used within the Australian construction industry that have been found to be relatively easy to perform and provide quick, meaningful and accurate information.
    This publication generally provides: the scope of the test, a brief description of the methods and procedures used, and the major advantages, disadvantages, difficulties, reliability, variability and precision associated with the test method.
    Current Practice Note 22 – Non-destructive Testing of Concrete is available for purchase or download through the Institute’s web site at www.concreteinstitute.com.au   To download a complimentary copy, log in to the Members’ Area of the web site using the Username and Password printed on the reverse side of your 2008 membership card, then click on the Publications Updates section of the Quick Links on the Members’ Area page.

    The Institute’s Council has determined that all Institute nominated representatives to Standards Australia committees should be supported by a reference group.
    The role of the reference group will be to support the nominated representative with a group of interested and qualified members who are able to contribute to the Institute’s Standards development activity.
    It isenvisaged reference groups will comprise from four to six members, depending on the level of interest in the committee's activities. Potential nominees will be provided with more information upon contacting Ben Cosson at the Institute's national office - technical@concreteinstitute.com.au or by phone to (02) 9736 2955.
    A call for nominations is now open for reference group members to support the Institute's nominated representatives to the following Standards Australia committees.

• BD-010: Cement,
• BD-049: Specification and Supply of Concrete,
• BD-066: Tilt-up Construction, and
• BD-101: Retrofitting Structures by Plating

    A full reference group structure is already in place for the BD-002 Concrete Structures committee which is responsible for the development of AS3600 Concrete Structures.
    Further calls will be made in coming weeks for the nomination of reference group members to support the Institute's nominated representatives to the balance of the committees to which the Institute enjoys nomination rights.

    Entry forms for the 2009 Excellence Awards program will be released on 7 July 2008.
    To be conducted in conjunction with Concrete 09, the 24th Biennial Conference of Concrete Institute of Australia, the Awards program has been expanded to include an award recognising the Environmentally Sustainable Use of Concrete.
  Eligible entries will include structures completed during the period July 2007 to June 2009 and technology entries either completed or brought to market in the same period.
    To grab a sneak preview of the entry form, click on the image to the right of this text.
    The 2009 awards series will also include the presentatioon of the Kevin Cavanagh Medal.
    Entries will be received from complying structures and technology entrants in the following areas:
            Projects - including buildings, engineering construction and international projects
           Technology - including intellectual materials, physical materials, products for sale or services.
    Intial enquiries can be forwarded to awards@concreteinstitute.com.au or contact can be made with the Institute's national office on (02) 9736 2955.

     The organising committee for Concrete 09 has enlisted an impressive array of international keynote speakers for the 24th Biennial Conference to be conducted in Sydney in September 2009.
    The next edition of Concrete in Australia magazine will provide an update on preparations for the Conference.
    In the mean time, here is a biographical sketch of the keynote speakers who will be participating.
    Sponsorship and exhibition packages will be released shortly as well.
    The organising committee chaired by Malcolm Boyd is well advanced in its planning.  The Technical committee headed by Dr Ian Gilbert is similarly well advanced in developing the themes and streams for the Conference.
    Concrete 09 will build on the success of previous Concrete Institute of Australia Conferences, particularly those conducted in recent years in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Dr Hans Rudolf Ganz was educated at the Swiss at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich receiving a Diploma in Civil Engineering in 1978 and a Doctorate in Civil Engineering in1985.      He is the Chief Technical Officer of the VSL Group responsible for VSL Technical Centres “Europe” in Subingen (Switzerland) and “Asia” in Singapore. He is responsible for the technical aspects of engineering, research and development, VSL System development and support, VSL equipment, component manufacturing, DUCTAL (ultra-high performance concrete), patents, quality, safety and environment.     He is a member of Board of Directors of VSL Group and Executive Vice President of VSL International Ltd.     He is President of fib (2007-2008) and was Deputy President of fib (2004-2006). He was Chairman of fib Commission 9 “Reinforcing and Prestressing Materials and Systems” from 1996 to 2007 and has served on numerous committees of fib, the ACI, the Post-Tensioning Institute and the European Committee for Standardisation.
Professor Frank J. Vecchio is professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto and has been a faculty member in the Department of Civil Engineering at UT since 1985.      His research interests relate to nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete, constitutive modelling, assessment of structural integrity, analysis of repaired and rehabilitated structures, and forensic assessment of distressed or failed structures.     Professor Vecchio is currently deputy chair of fib Commission 4 - Modelling of Structural Behaviour and Design, and is a member of ACI-ASCE Committee 445 - Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete, and ACI Committee 441 - Columns. He received the ACI Structural Research Award in 1997, and the ACI Structural Engineering Award in 1998, and is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute.
Dr Koji Sakai is Professor of Engineering at Kagawa University in Japan. He was Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Kagawa University from 1999 to 2002 and a Senator of the University from 1999 to 2004.      He is the author of numerous technical papers and his current research interests concentrate on minimising the adverse impact of the concrete industry on the environment.Since 2002, Professor Sakai has been Chairman of fib Commission 3 (Environmental Aspects of Design and Construction) and, since 2003, he has been Chairman of subcommittee on Inter-national Activities, Concrete Committee, JSCE.     He has been   Chairman of WG1 and WG5 in JCI/ISO Committee since 2003 and, since 2008, he has been Chairman of ISO/TC71/SC8 (Environmental Management for Concrete and Concrete Structures).
Dr Joost Walraven is Professor of Concrete Structures at TU Delft.     Professor Walraven has carried out research in many areas, such as shear, punching, crack width control, creep and shrinkage of concrete, rotation capacity of concrete structures and the behaviour of precast concrete structures. More recently he has focused on the development of new types of concrete and their application, like high strength concrete, self compacting concrete, high performance fiber concrete and low binder concrete.     Professor Walraven is author and co-author 350 publications in scientific and professional journals and at conferences.      Prof. Walraven was president of fib from 2000 -2002. Moreover he was chairman of the Project Team responsible for writing the new Eurocode 2 “Concrete Structures”, which was delivered 2004. He is chairman of the fib Special Activity Group “New Model Code for Concrete Structures” and chairman of the fib Task Group “Ultra High Performance Fibre Concrete”.In 1998 he received the fip Award for his contributions to the development of prestressed concrete.
Dr Stephen Ackers is a Swiss based consultant in Materials Engineering, specializing in cement based materials and concrete technology. He is an expert in long term durability of concrete structures and is frequently involved in predicting the service life of building products, including assessment & testing material properties; accelerated ageing tests; creep behaviour; fatigue behaviour; prediction of service-life; and assessment of cracking  and ageing in the field. He has also been actively involved in the development of non cement based materials, including activated fly ash.

    The recently released Recommended Practice Shotcreting in Australia is set to be exported to the USA, UK and Europe.
    Based on strong demand from overseas shotcreting organisations, the Institute is now working with the Australian Shotcrete Society to develop the required distribution arrangements.
    This publication has been written as a guide to the use of shotcrete in Australia. It is based on established practice within the Australian context and is targeted toward designers, specifiers, owners, suppliers, contractors and other end users of shotcrete.
   The guide has been arranged into chapters and clauses covering specific areas of information relevant to shotcrete technology. The behaviour of structures made with shotcrete more closely resembles that of cast concrete structures than any other type of structure. In the absence of an Australian Standard on shotcrete the chapter within this guide on Design Considerations has been organised in a broadly-similar manner to AS 3600 Concrete structures, to facilitate a complementary approach to structural design.
    Concrete Institute of Australia has worked closely with the Australian Shotcrete Society (a special interest group within the Australasian Tunnelling Society ATS) in developing the guide. The ATS is affiliated with AusIMM and Engineers Australia. 
    Shotcreting in Australia is available from Concrete Institute of Australia (www.concreteinstitute.com.au) or SAI Global, Standards Australia’s sales agents (68 pages plus covers).  To download an order form, simply click on the image of the cover of the guide which appears above.

For information on seminars and meetings conducted by Concrete Institute of Australia visit our web site at http://www.concreteinstitute.com.au/ 

Concrete Institute of Australia may be contacted through its national office:
          PO Box 3157, RHODES NSW 2138
          Phone: +61 2 9736 2955 Fax: +61 2 9736 2639
          Email: admin@concreteinstitute.com.au

All Concrete Institute of Australia publications including this electronic newsletter are made possible by continuing support received from our Platinum Company members. For information on these companies, link to their web sites through the Institute's site at http://www.concreteinstitute.com.au/