12.03.2019

CONCRETE 4.0 GOES OMAN

Conference makes successful debut in the Sultanate

Well established in the UAE already, the Ha-Be Concrete 4.0 conference took place at the Crowne Plaza Muscat Hotel in the Sultanate of Oman for the very first time on 28th February 2019.
 
The event offered all participants the opportunity of networking and receiving information about products and techniques that are available to enhance the durability and service life of concrete structures. Participants included representatives of minor and major companies in Oman as well as of Authorities and Ministries.

Said Al Lawati, former Sales Engineer in Oman and now Regional Manager of the Ha-Be UAE branch, greeted all participants and industry professionals. He noted the purpose of the construction industry as well as ministries and authorities is not only that building solutions could achieve durability, but also ‎retained the approach and ability to build efficiently. He expressed his hope that the conference provides an ‎opportunity to obtain expert opinions for this task.‎

“We are looking ‎forward to the presentations of the experience and ‎‎achievements of the technical experts ‎gathered here”, he said, “and of course also to ‎further ‎productive cooperation with you, the conference ‎participants"

He then invited Klaus Hofmann, General Manager of Ha-Be Middle East, to briefly introduce himself and Ha-Be to the participants. He talked about the past and recent developments of Ha-Be as well as about upcoming challenges  and opportunities. Based on his experience, he shared some concerns in regards to today’s construction industry, particularly in terms of whether durability is as important as it should be.
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”We want concrete not only to achieve an advanced durability and service life, but also to retain its appearance and performance”, said also Marcel Paulitsch, Technical Manager at Ha-Be. He presented the first part of product developments for durable concrete solutions and provided a comprehensive review about the magnitude of Ha-Be Silica Fluid and whether the ‎effect and benefits from liquefying Silica Fume matter. ‎ ‎

After a coffee break followed the second part with keynotes by Rabi Basak, Concrete Technologist at Ha-Be and Mehrdad Torabzadegan, Senior Application Engineer at Yara International ASA. Both highlighted the importance of protecting concrete in order to obtain durability and both discussed concrete protection complexities and how the service life of concrete structures can significantly decrease over time.

Why do so many contractors believe that building durable is costly and time consuming? ‎Given that concrete itself is a durable building material, they pursued information on how "more durable" concrete is produced. While Rabi Basak elaborated on Ha-Be’s DURAHIT® product line, various waterproofing systems now available, Mehrdad ‎focused on NitCalTM  as a corrosion inhibiting admixture. He highlighted NitCal’s long-term performance proven and supported by a case study‎.

The first Concrete 4.0 conference in Oman concluded as a successful event and with a lunch that gave participants again the opportunity to reflect and discuss about the presentations.

Asked to comment on a second conference, Klaus Hofmann revealed: “We appreciate the interest in Ha-Be Middle East and in our conference a lot. We feel delighted and overwhelmed by the great response we have received from so many people till now and considering the high demand, there will be definitely another edition of Concrete 4.0 in Oman soon!”