A look ín the material

(Save) costs and the environment with the right expertise 

Consultancy and research firm Bjond Innovation works for government and industry in the Netherlands and Belgium. Says Jo van Montfort, "Our expertise lies mainly in high end research of concrete and steel structures, in order to determine their residual life and provide solutions for life extension."

By engaging service knowledge company Bjond, according to founder Van Montfort, a lot of pointless material use can ultimately be prevented. "Thanks to our expertise, it is possible to intervene as early as possible. Early and relatively inexpensive repairs prevent a lot of unnecessary material, time, money and environmental impact. We advocate a data-driven rather than budget-driven approach."

The company offers advice and assistance in finding the best solutions for the protection of building materials such as steel, concrete and rebar under extreme conditions (chemical/climatic). Bjond Innovation is also increasingly called upon for damage assessments on these materials and their repair. "I often compare it to the human body, a check-up can prevent you from getting sick and áf you get sick, the right expertise is important. We are the specialist who looks at how sick a material/construction is, so we make a diagnosis and come up with appropriate solutions for our customers."

Bjond is mostly called in when it comes to bridges, tunnels, monuments, works of art, office buildings and residential towers. "We also look at special buildings in the industrial and chemical industries. Existing and old buildings are too often written off too quickly. We can help to stretch the lifespan a bit more in all areas." Using high-end resources, the company charts the residual life of the structure and the state of the material aspects. This requires thorough examination. "We do this partly visually, but we want to intervene before corrosion is visible. We therefore take samples to analyze together with a lab of our choice. This allows us to look 'ín the material,' so to speak, to determine the degradation curve of the material."

According to Van Montfort, the research process begins with asking the right questions. "It is important to know the requirements for the structure and then for the material. Then we do smart research. Increasingly, we measure in real time how the material 'feels'. For coatings this is quite possible, for concrete we are working on new measurement techniques."

As an example, Van Montfort cites a company for which Bjond determined the condition of a combined steel and concrete structure. "There were several load-bearing parts that were of concern to the owner. First we determined the condition and quality of the material, then a structural engineer calculated whether the load-bearing capacity was still sufficient. On this basis, we advised on the measures to be taken. In this case, that meant, on the one hand, a well-founded postponement of unnecessary maintenance and, on the other hand, extension of the lifespan of parts that would accelerate deterioration in the medium term. This approach greatly reduced the original unavailability period of the structure. Because we understand what goes into the material, we save costs and material use for our customers and save the environment."