Summary Reader's Response Draft 3 - "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 the 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 instrumental 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 this technology's breakthrough will be a challenge, conditional on clients' and developers' willingness to test it out. Jonkers' innovation has been utilised for a concrete irrigation system project in Ecuador and is being piloted in developing countries worldwide. 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.) 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 result in minimum to zero alteration to the building's original semblance. The traditional way of plastering over cracks may alter the building's surface's original texture or colour. It will take meticulous efforts and a considerable amount of manpower to minimise variation from the building’s authentic finishing. The spray form of self-healing concrete is preferable in this case. It will need very minimal manpower, and the application is easy – spray the solution directly onto the cracks, and the concrete will heal itself over time.

Jonkers' prediction of his innovation being useful in highway infrastructure is also particularly applicable in Singapore. Tan (2019) mentioned that Singapore's second most utilised public transports are MRTs and LRTs, which cater to about 7.54 million daily. Land Transport Authority Singapore (LTA) 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 not an easy task. Regular maintenance and upgrading of bridges are awarded to contractors by LTA. Some of the repairs involve 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. The repair mortar form of self-healing concrete is suitable and highly economical for this case, as it can avert future repair works to a certain degree.

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

Being a highly influential country that boasts of prodigious advancements, Singapore should be one of the first ASEAN countries to promote this sustainable and environmentally friendly innovation for others to follow. (599 words)

 

REFERENCES:

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

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/

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

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

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.