Ireland: Researchers at the Technological University Dublin are leading a project to assess the potential to reduce the amount of cement used in concrete blends in Ireland. Led by Dr Niall Holmes, Discipline Lead (Structural Engineering), the Alternative Irish-based Materials Suitable as Cementitious Binders project is partnering with numerous industrial partners – including cement producers Breedon and Mannok. It will assess the potential to use fly ash, calcined clays, recycled glass powder and imported slags to partially substitute for cement in concrete products.

The project has received funding from Construct Innovate, part of Enterprise Ireland, which is the Irish government’s enterprise development agency. As well as assessing the quantities of available alternative raw materials, the project will also advocate for the adoption of performance-based standards at the national and EU levels so that alternative concrete blends can be brought to market rapidly and be exported from Ireland to elsewhere in the EU.

The project is running from January 2025 until December 2025. Any party wishing to contribute should contact the publisher in the first instance.

US: Emerson City Council has approved the rezoning of 2 hectares of land in Emerson, Georgia. Local press has reported that the rezoning will allow Thomas Concrete Group to operate a ready-mix concrete batching plant there. Thomas Concrete’s website lists one existing batching plant in the area, in between Emerson and Cartersville.

India: Arisinfra Solutions has won a contract to supply ready-mix concrete, cement and other building products to Transcon Group for use in its projects in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The total value of products and services under the contract is estimated at US$39.4m, over a period of 45 – 50 months.

Spain: Murcia City Council says that it is building an underground bus depot as part of the upcoming Central Plaza urban space at Barrio del Carmen railway station. Local press has reported that town planning company Urbamusa and architect Javier Peña plan to build the depot using 3D concrete printing. The concrete will be coloured according to its level in the building: blue at ground level, progressing down through maroon and orange to yellow. A ‘large elliptical pergola’ will allow daylight to permeate to the lowest level.