CEMBUREAU industry open week / 23 September - 4 October

CEMBUREAU has launched its Cement Industry Open Week, which will run from 23 September until 4 October. Events are being held across Europe in order to highlight the role played by concrete in relation to sustainable construction.

As part of the Cement Industry Open Week, CEMBUREAU, together with EUPAVE, the European Concrete Paving Association, organised a visit of an ongoing reconstruction over 3 km of the E40 motorway from Brussels to Ostend. Christian Caestecker, head of the Flemish Agency for Roads and Traffic, Anne-Séverine Poupeleer, Project Manager of the worksite and working for the Flemish Agency for Roads and Traffic, and Luc Rens, Managing Director of EUPAVE highlighted the invaluable role of concrete and its contribution to sustainable road transport.

A major emitter of CO2 in Europe and in the world is traffic. In the EU, CO2 emissions from transport amount to 28% of total CO2 emissions and, while those of industry are decreasing, these are on the increase. In France the Normandy bridge across the Seine estuary, a gateway between Northern and Southern France as well as to the West coast, a project completed in 1987, allows a reduction of travel time of 20 minutes for cars, 25 minutes for lorries, leading to an average gain of time of 300 000 hrs and a saving of about 3500 tonnes of oil equivalent each year, with the corresponding reduction of CO2 emissions. Even if traffic growth is disregarded, the total CO2 saving over a service life of 50 years is significant.

On this occasion, EUPAVE released its first publication “Concrete Roads: a Smart and Sustainable Choice”. This brochure draws on international experience to show that the modern concrete road can be a sustainable solution for our society and that it satisfies the basic criteria for sustainable construction in respect of the environment, economy and society. A paper copy can be obtained on simple request: send an email to info@eupave.eu in which your name, email address, company, shipping address and country are mentioned.

More information: www.eupave.eu