Infrastructures

Materials – Maintenance – Cities of tomorrow

Date: Thursday, 13th June 2019

Time: 8:45 – 15:30
Location: University of Ghana – Accra, Ghana

Attendance: The attendance of the symposium is free. Please send a short message of
registration to: ines.ngassam@bam.de

Organizers: BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Berlin, Germany,
wolfram.schmidt@bam.de; ines.ngassam@bam.de
University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana,
ddarhin@yahoo.com
MC Bauchemie, Bottrop, Germany,
Moritz.Koch@mc-bauchemie.de

Concrete is the most important construction material in the world. Therefore, it plays a
major role in future construction as well as in the repair and maintenance of existing
structures. Infrastructure is a major economy driver. A robust and functioning infrastructural
network is of utmost importance to sustain and foster positive economic developments. In
challenging climatic conditions, concrete structures have pointed out to be the most
reasonable choice.

Although concrete is a durable material, as every material, it changes its performance over
the course of time, and it deteriorates depending upon the climatic exposure and
mechanical and dynamic load. In order to avoid infrastructure collapse, it is important to
develop strategies and techniques to extent the service life of infrastructural buildings to the
maximum, which demands for sound and critical assessment of structures as well as for
taking the necessary remedial actions.

This second seminar organised within the framework of the German-Ghanaian industrial
research project INFRACOST (Adaptation of systemic infrastructural concrete structures to
environmental challenges and risks) will be focused on the construction materials, the
maintenance of the infrastructure and some thoughts about the cities of tomorrow. The
speakers, who present about recent developments and upcoming trends, are experts in their
field. Therefore, interactions during this seminar are warmly encouraged.
 Programme

Thursday 13th June 2019, University of Ghana

Time Activity
8h45 - 9h00 Welcome - Intro - University of Ghana

9h -10h30 Concrete technology

Mike Otieno, Wits Cement chemistry - Admixtures
University, South Africa
Quality of the materials: Water - aggregates –
Reinforcement
Durability
10h30 -10h45 Coffee Break

10h45 - 11h30 Concrete rehabilitation: Techniques and materials

Ines Ngassam, BAM, Concrete pathologies

Germany

Repair materials and techniques

NDTs

11h30-12h15 Overview of bridge rehabilitations in Ghana

Yaqub Koray, Ghana
Highway Authorities,
Ghana
12h15 - 13h30 Lunch
13h30 - 14h30 Non-conventional
construction materials
Wolfram Schmidt, BAM, Future admixtures and SCMs
Germany

Mark Bediako, CSIR, Ghana Non-cementitious housing

14h30 - 15h Social approach of the architecture of the cities of tomorrow

Kuukuwa Odugamba
Manful, sociarchi / SOAS
University of London,
Ghana
15h - 15h30 Coffee Break - Discussion - End of the seminar