Conference on Foundation Decarbonization and Re-use

The Construction Industry is largely contributing to the CO2 emissions, and so is the Deep Foundation Industry. With sustainability becoming every day more relevant, foundation design has to be viewed differently. Decarbonization is the first option: more efficient design reducing volumes of concrete or steel, the use of different materials with lower carbon footprint. This should not be viewed as the only option available: the reuse of existing foundations must be considered as well, and even preferred as the most sustainable option.

In March 2023, DFI Europe and the Geotechnical Section of the KIVI will host a 3-day conference, including an optional one-day site-visit, to discuss these burning topics in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

In this city, foundations using timber piles (one of the more sustainable construction material) have been used for long, and given the age of many structures the issue of the foundation reuse is a recurring topic of endless debate.  This can be because the loads have increased since the structure was first designed, as is the case with the bridges in Amsterdam, or because a new building is constructed to replace a structure that no longer meets the current requirements. 

But of course, there are many other places in the World where this issue is getting momentum, with urban centers being reconstructed and transformed, and we propose to enlarge the debate in this International Conference, discussing the vision of consulting engineers, contractors or end-clients.  We have received a very quick and unexpected amount of abstracts showing a large interest in the proposed themes.

Join us in Amsterdam, The Netherlands!