Marcel Vullings – TNO
CROW is a Dutch organisation that gather and uncloses knowledge which is relevant for civil works and buildings. CROW officially launched the CROW-CUR Guideline 4:2023 “Reuse of structural precast concrete elements” on Tuesday (11-06-2024). This guideline provides a practical description of a working method that can be used in projects involving the reuse of structural precast concrete elements. It covers various aspects, such as preparations for deconstruction, the disconnection of elements, the temporary storage of elements, the assessment of rewon elements and the reuse of these elements in new structures. The guideline has a general section that covers topics that apply to reuse of all types of precast concrete elements. In addition, it has annexes in which specific products are highlighted . Currently, there are two annexes: annex A deals with reuse of hollow-core slabs and annex B covers precast prestressed bridge girders. More types of elements are going to be added to the guideline in the near future. The guideline is for both infrastructure and buildings, in the broadest sense of the word. Many aspects are the same for both, and the non-standard aspects are dealt with in the separate annexes.
TU/e, TNO and other experts, including contractors, engineering firms, clients and testing companies, contributed their knowledge, experiences and insights to shape the guideline. In this respect, the knowledge and experiences from the pilot projects of the Horizon 2020 project ReCreate were very valuable. The wide-ranging scope of ReCreate has helped shape all the guideline’s sub-sections.
CROW launched the Guideline on site at IJmuiden. Heidelberg Materials hosted the event and after presenting a quick overview of the guideline for a mixed audience, we all got a chance to check out the temporary storage (near Heidelberg Materials) for the harvested precast concrete bridge girders. Here, the girders are waiting to be used in new bridges at various locations in the Netherlands.
