Construmat: the construction industry on show in Barcelona

Everything’s ready for the next Construmat, the long-running Spanish event for the construction industry that successfully combines innovation, sustainability, and business. From May 23 through 25, around 180 companies and 300 brands will converge on Barcelona, with the organizers expecting up to 15,000 visitors in the event’s 108 thousand square feet (10,000 m²) of exhibition space. The show includes a busy conference program, with a particular focus on sustainability, digitization, and industrialization. This last topic will come under the microscope during a panel discussion on Santiago Bernabéu stadium, which will address the use of innovative industrialized approaches to the renovation and building of façades.

The three-day event will also see the presentation of three new projects judged by Construmat as the most transformative, innovative, and worthy of being used as a model for today and tomorrow. Called the TOP3, the award has gone to the Pallars Building (in the Sustainability category), the extra hospital facilities built in Catalonia during the Covid pandemic (Industrialization category), and a smart monitoring system for concrete infrastructure dubbed Corrochip (Digitization category).

The Pallars Building is a seven-story timber residential complex that’s currently under construction in the Besòs i Maresme district of Barcelona. The building will have 42 social rental units, provided by the Instituto Municipal de Vivienda, featuring technologies to reduce environmental impact, prefabricated elements, and natural materials, such as timber from certified forests.

 

The Covid pandemic as a building challenge

To increase the capacity of hospitals during the pandemic, Servei Català de Salut commissioned the construction of five temporary annexes. These were completed in just 20 weeks thanks to the use of offsite and modular construction. The modules were used to extend the Bellvitge University Hospital, Pere Virgili Parc Sanitari Hospital, Arnau University Hospital in Vilanova de Lleida, Moisés Broggi Hospital, and Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital in Badalona.

 

Digitalization for monitoring

Finally, Corrochip is a smart monitoring system for concrete infrastructure. It was designed by Witeklab and developed with various partners, including SOCOTEC. The system has already been deployed in various situations, including port, river, and motorway infrastructure.

Using sensors embedded in the concrete, the technology detects the development of corrosion and monitors the state of reinforcing bars in real time. This makes it possibly to assess the level of deterioration with a high degree of accuracy and anticipate situations that could compromise the integrity of the structure, therefore prolonging its life, reducing maintenance costs, and ensuring its safety.