Reusability scan: 'sustainable' addition to IAK

For many years, Nebest has been involved in carrying out the Maintenance Advice on Works of Art (IAK) for the Department of Public Works. As part of the government-wide goal of working in a circular and climate-neutral way by 2050, Nebest developed within the consortium Closing The Loop The Reusability Scan. A tool with which the reusability of existing object parts of artworks can be determined very efficiently and largely parallel to the regular maintenance inspections. In this way, opportunities for high-quality reuse can be identified at an early stage.

In response to the SBIR call Circular Viaducts, consortium Closing The Loop, consisting of Nebest, Antea Group, GBN Group and Strukton Civiel, in collaboration with the Dutch Department of Public Works, is taking the next step toward circular and climate-neutral infrastructure. There is still a world to win here. After all, over 70% of the existing civil engineering structures are demolished using the traditional wrecking ball, even (well) before the end of their technical lifespan. The concrete then mostly ends up as foundation material under a road. "That's not exactly sustainable, but deeply downcycling," says Wouter van den Berg, New Business Manager at Nebest. "Within the Closing the Loop consortium, we believe that existing artworks deserve a second life in the form of new artworks." 

From its regular maintenance inspections, Nebest inspects a large number of artworks each year. "In doing so, we map out the maintenance needs in a mainly risk-driven way. We then check whether there are uncontrollable risks that require extra attention," Van den Berg explains. "How nice would it be if you could simultaneously retrieve information about reusability? After all, a circular infrastructure hinges on knowledge of the current acreage. There is quite a lot of knowledge, but fragmented and not captured in convenient data systems. The acreage is like a big box of Lego blocks with which you can (re)build just fine. The problem is that we don't know exactly where each cube is located, what its quality is, what its structural properties are and when it will become available. With the Reusability Scan, we provide an ordered set of lego blocks so that these materials and parts can be quickly and efficiently used for a second life." 

An important starting point in the development of the Reusability Scan was embedding it in current methodologies for conservation inspections. "The Reusability Scan has been integrated into our inspection software," says Christian Rademaker, Data Engineer and Innovation Manager at Nebest. "In it, a hierarchical structure has been created where you can determine the detachability, residual life, structural properties and quality per component. To determine the parameters, we used the decomposition from NEN 2767 and knowledge from the CB23 platform, among others. Moreover, the data structure was chosen in such a way that it can be easily exchanged with third parties, such as the Nationale Bruggenbank and Madaster. This is essential to encourage reuse."

The Reusability Scan is by no means the tenth platform in the line to present itself as a materials passport, Van den Berg emphasizes. "We deploy the scan to collect information relevant to reuse. In this way to ensure that people can actually get started with reuse. In October, we are going to inventory ten civil engineering works for Rijkswaterstaat with the Reusability Scan and work towards an integrated approach with the IAK in order to deploy it definitively in the new contract next year."