With rising demand in building space either for commercial or residential purposes as population grows, repairing existing structures due to high costs of building a new one comes into the fore. Though concrete is durable and strong as a basic building material and is highly in demand amid construction boom, however, poor workmanship, construction procedures, and construction materials may cause imperfections that later require repair. Any long-term deterioration or damage to concrete structures caused by flowing water, ice, or other natural forces must be corrected. Neglecting to perform periodic maintenance and repairs to concrete structures as they occur could result in failure of the structure from either a structural or hydraulic standpoint. This in turn may threaten the continued safe use of the entire infrastructure. Before any type of concrete repair is attempted, it is essential that all factors governing the deterioration or failure of the concrete structure are identified. This is required so that the appropriate remedial measures can be undertaken in the repair design to help correct the problem and prevent it from occurring in the future. Against this backdrop, the ongoing The Big 5 Saudi 2012 provided dedicated platforms for those working in this market to showcase their products in the concrete zone and discuss hot topics at the concrete repair workshop. Concrete Zone is host to a brand new USA pavilion this year, brought together by Spancrete Global Services. Terry Dittrich, international sales manager for the company, said: "These US-based companies are offering real solutions for the fast growing construction market in the region." Alongside Spancrete, the US pavilion includes companies Smart Structures, Rexcon, Verti-Crete and Voeller Mixers, amongst others. Additional to this new area was the introduction of the Concrete Repair workshop which was designed to give delegates insight into how concrete repair can be best managed and techniques that can be adopted to help prevent high cost maintenance. Due to the saline environment in Saudi Arabia, structural integrity can often be compromised and the workshop provide expert ways in which risk assessment can be successfully implemented and applications can help to support on-going maintenance programs. Andy White, event director of The Big 5 Saudi, said: "Concrete Zone and the corresponding workshops have been instant hits at the event and exhibition space in this area of the show was the first to sell out. Concrete is a growing market and one that we anticipate will continue to dominant in the coming years."
