There is increasing concern about the issues such as global warming and other ecological changes that have drastically influenced the existence of life. Concrete industry is considered as one of the significant contributors to these changes. With the exponential growth of human population and industrialization, concrete is now used not only for buildings and roads but also for other civil infrastructure facilities such as underground mass transit facilities, wastewater treatment systems, and marine structures. Every year, approximately 1.6 billion tons of portland cement is produced worldwide, generating 5% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. Annually, the concrete industry consumes 10 billion tons of sand and rock and 1 billion tons of water. Concrete greatly impacts the ecology of the planet Earth.
This proposal is to conduct an international workshop to address the above issues. The workshop will be hosted by Tsinghua University, in collaboration with other organizations. The goals of the workshop are to promote global interaction and foster research collaboration so as to develop a better understanding towards sustainable development using concrete technology. A steering committee, consisting of members from both US and China, will be formed for the workshop organization and implementation. US experts, especially women or minorities, on cement and concrete materials will be invited to the workshop, eight to ten of whom will be selected by the workshop committee and partially be supported by the proposed NSF travel grant.
The China Building Material Academy (CBMA) will sponsor and jointly host the workshop with Tsinghua University. The Yangtze Survey, Planning, and Design Research Institute will co-sponsor the workshop. China Yangtze Power Corporation Ltd. will host and sponsor a field trip to Three Gorges. A proceeding of the workshop will be produced.
