Lab visit follows stakeholder workshop
Following the latest of our stakeholder engagement workshops held in London, arrangements were made for representatives from two of our key customers to visit HeidelbergCement’s research laboratory in Bergamo, Italy.
Ioanna Papanikolaou, smart infrastructure advisor and PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, is a sponsored PhD student with Costain, one of the UK’s leading engineering solutions providers. She is conducting her research on graphene related material (GRM) combined with cementitious materials, in particular for tunnelling applications. GRM research is one of the activities carried out by HeidelbergCement’s global product innovation function at the Bergamo iLab.
The Bergamo team also shared their experience with concrete solutions for infrastructure – flooring in particular – and the use of calcium sulfoaluminate-based (CSA) products and applications for both tunnelling and sludge treatment.
A consortium including Costain has been awarded a £1.8 billion HS2 works contract for the tunnelling sections through London, for which the use of CSA-based products could be the best solution.
The second visit was by Marshalls, a market leader in external landscaping, interior design, paving and flooring products, to look at emerging concrete technology.