Summary Reader's Response Draft 1 - "The Self-Healing Concrete..."

 

In the article “The Self-Healing Concrete…” Spinks (2015), Spinks shares a new green technology by Hendrik Jonkers, a microbiologist at Delft University. His innovation increases the lifespan of concrete by embedding self-activating limestone-producing bacteria into building material.

Jonkers hopes to decrease production of new concrete and lower maintenance as well as repair costs of essential concrete infrastructures. His innovation comes in three forms: a spray, a repair mortar and the self-healing concrete itself. He predicts that this new green technology will be especially useful in highway infrastructure. Although this new green technology sounds promising, Spinks mentions that it cannot cure cracks wider than 0.8mm. John Alker, director of policy at the UK Green Building Council, believes that a breakthrough for this technology will be tough and it is up to clients and developers’ willingness to test it and prove its usefulness before others will follow. Jonkers’ innovation has been used for a concrete irrigation system project in Ecuador and is being tested in developing countries all over the world. In view of the fact that this new self-healing concrete technology comes in three convenient forms, it will be potentially lucrative for the building authorities especially in a concrete jungle such as Singapore.

Our SG Heritage (Our Places, n.d.) has reported that 72 buildings in Singapore have been gazetted as National Monuments and more than 7,000 buildings have been conserved, many of which are located in conserved historic districts such as Kampong Glam, Little India and Chinatown. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) hopes to ensure that these buildings follow the 3R’s – principles of maximum Retention, sensitive Restoration and careful Repair. Understandably, for conserved buildings and buildings protected under the Preservation Monuments Act, it is essential that the repair processes require minimum to zero alteration to the building’s original semblance. The traditional way of plastering over cracks may alter the original texture or colour of the surface of the building. It will take meticulous efforts and a considerable amount of manpower to be able to minimise variation from its original appearance. This is where the spray form of self-healing concrete comes advantageous. The spray form will need very minimal manpower, and the application is easy – just spray the solution directly on to the cracks and the concrete will heal itself overtime.

Jonkers’ prediction of his innovation being useful in highway infrastructure is also particularly applicable in Singapore. Singapore’s second most utilised public transports are MRTs and LRTs which cater to about 7.54 million daily (Tan, 2019). Land Transport Authority Singapore (LTA) has also reported that more networks are being built to further expand rail coverage. According to a research article done by Centre for Liveable Cities, "Turning Dead Spaces..." (2016), there are more than 100 flyovers and viaducts in Singapore. As I see it, repairing flyovers and viaducts is no easy feat. Regular maintenance and upgrading of bridges are awarded to contractors by LTA. Some of the repairs involve works such as concrete spalling and damaged elements on road structures (Swee Builders Pte Ltd, n.d.). I estimate it to be a costly, labour-intensive and time-dependent process that can be expedited by using the repair mortar form of self-healing concrete.

Singapore has a total of 8,200 buildings and about 80 skyscrapers in its Central Business District area (Wikipedia contributors, 2021). All of which are made of concrete. In my humble opinion, the building authorities would significantly be able to cut down on reparation costs if important structures were built using the self-healing concrete itself, instead of traditional concrete.

Being a highly influential country that boasts of great advancements, Singapore should be one of the first ASEAN countries to promote this sustainable and environmentally friendly innovation for others to follow suit.

REFERENCES:

Spinks, R (2015, June 20). The Self-Healing Concrete That Can Fix Its Own Cracks. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jun/29/the-self-healing-concrete-that-can-fix-its-own-cracks

Our SG Heritage. (n.d.). Our Places. Heritage Plan. Retrieved February 16, 2021, from https://www.oursgheritage.gov.sg/what-is-the-heritage-plan-for-singapore/our-places/

Tan, C. (2019, February 13). Bus and train ridership up, taxi rides down. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/bus-and-train-ridership-up-taxi-rides-down

Hoh, D (2016). Turning Dead Spaces into Dynamic Places for Entrepreneurship. Centre for Liveable Cities Singapore. https://www.clc.gov.sg/docs/default-source/reports/turning-dead-spaces.pdf

TR223 Regular Maintenance and Upgrading of Bridge – Swee Builders Pte Ltd. (n.d.). Swee Builders Pte Ltd. Retrieved February 16, 2021, from http://sweebuilders.com.sg/portfolio/tr223-regular-maintenance.

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, February 13). List of tallest buildings in Singapore. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Singapore#:%7E:text=The%20city%2Dstate%20of%20Singapore,there%20are%20about%2080%20skyscrapers.