The UHPC guide.

Index.

Introduction 3

What is UHPC? 4

UHPC. A combination of concrete technologies. 10

Mix design and properties of UHPC 14

Main advantages of UHPC structures 17

When can UHPC provide the most efficient solution? 23

Sectors with potential for the development of UHPC solutions 26

Market barriers 28

History of the UHPC structures and relevant international references 30

References 36

Preliminary note: Copying, reproduction and public dissemination for commercial interests
is forbidden. Copyright © Research and Development Concretes S.L. All Rights reserved

2
Introduction.

This document aims to be a brief updated guide about Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC),
a cementitious material with high mechanical performance and extremely high durability.

Elaborated quarterly by the engineering Research & Development Concretes SL and the precast
company PREFFOR, this report covers broadly all the value chain of the material, from its mix
design to the latest market trends. Without commercial purposes, this guide intends to disseminate
among the industry and the society the state of the art of this technology.

3
What is UHPC?.

Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is a cementitious material with mechanical performance

and durability significantly improved compared to ordinary concrete. This makes of this material
a competitive option in a wide range of applications in construction and other high-added value
sectors. It enables to design lighter, more durable, more economic, or more industrialized elements
than some of those currently made with steel, wood, ordinary concrete or wear linings.

Also known as UHPFRC (Ultra-High Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concretes), UHPC combines

synergically the properties of three technologies of special concretes: self-compactability, fiber-
reinforcement and ultra-high strength. Its mix design is based in three main rules:

● Very reduced water/cement ratio (generally below 0.25), being this possible thanks to the use
of the latest technologies incorporated to adxmitures by the chemical industry and due to the
particle packing theories.

● Use of high-quality aggregates with a maximum size that does not generally exceed 5 mm.

● High Steel fiber content to provide a strain-hardening response under tension and a ductile
failure mode under compression..

The result of combining these concepts is an extremely compact material which pores are
not communicated, so the lifespan of a UHPC structure is significantly extended. The corrosion
strength under cracked state does significantly increase compared even under aggressive exposure
environments (XS, XA, XF according to the Exposure Classes indicated in the Eurocode), as the
maximum crack width of the structures under service is several times lower than if it was designed

4
with ordinary concrete. Besides, the high compressive strength and the quality of the aggregates
makes of UHPC an extremely good material under impact and abrasion.

Figure 1. Pouring UHPC in fresh State (left), and ultra-light panel with 35-mm of thickness used for the industrial sector
(right)

As explained, UHPC has significantly higher performance than ordinary concretes. An apropriate
and competitive design with UHPC is generally between a 40% and a 70% lighter than the same
design made with ordinary concrete. This implies not only an environmental advantage due to the
reduction of resources consumed, but also a significant reduction of the dead load of the structure
and the transport and commissioning resources required. The lightness of the UHPC elements
allows to conceive solutions that were unaffordable up to now with other materials, particularly
as preslabs, industrialized light panels, wear linings for industry, etc. Finally, it is worth mentioning
that when the long lifespan of a UHPC structure arrives to its end, the amount of material to be
recycled is significantly smaller than the amount of a similar structure made with ordinary concrete.

5
 The competitiveness of UHPC solutions for various sectors of the civil engineering, energy and
industry is supported by hundreds of success cases. These applications are not limited to replace
the typically used materials. In fact, they are rarely obvious, requiring a conceptual change, a
disruptive innovation.

Figure 2. UHPC structures (Formex®) in the sectors of civil engineering, modular building and renewable energies.
Designed by RDC and precasted by PREFFOR.

6
Figure 3. UHPC structures (Formex®) in the sectors of civil engineering, modular building and renewable energies.
Designed by RDC and precasted by PREFFOR.

7
8
9
UHPC. A combination of
concrete technologies .

We call Fiber Reinforced Concretes (FRC) to concretes that contain fibers of any type and
size, naming fibers to elements randomly distributed and with one dimension much larger than
the other two. The FRC can be divided in two groups depending on their behavior when they are
submitted to a tensile test:

1) If after reaching a certain level of stress a crack is formed and its width progresses, this FRC
element is showing a strain softening response. This is the typical behaviour of conventional FRCs,
which fiber content is not high, and the bonding between the fibers and the concrete matrix is low
or medium.

2) If after reaching certain level of stress a crack is formed, but the high bonding strength between
the fibers and the concrete avoids that this first crack develops allowing an increase of the load
(and then, the creation of more cracks), this FRC is showing a strain hardening response. The FRC
with this behaviour can be called High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites
(HPFRCC, named below Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite, SHCC). This happens generally
in FRCs which fiber content is significant, or exceptionally in FRCs where the tensile strength of the
concrete matrix is particularly low. Most of the UHPCs are HPFRCC, but there are many HPFRCC
that do not reach 150 MPa under compression, so they are not strictly UHPCs.

UHPC is also, in most of the cases, a self-compacting concrete (SCC). These are the concretes
that do not require vibration when they are poured, as the air is able to rise to the surface only
thanks to the low viscosity of the fresh concrete. This property is achieved in through: 1) The addition

10
 cc

pc

cc

pc

cc

cc pc

Figure 4. Comparison of typical stress-strain response in tension of HPFRCC with conventional FRCC. Naaman [16]

11
of last-generation superplasticizers and 2) Adapting the mix design to facilitate the flowability and
avoid segregation.

SCC may contain fibers or not, as both classifications are independent. Thus, a concrete can
be SCC and FRC at the same time, as UHPC is. Self-compacting FRCs, as UHPC, have certain risk
that fibers suffer segregation during the pouring due to the different density of the paste and the
fibers (particularly steel fibers). Avoiding this requires to choose adequately the diameter of the
fibers, the granulometric curve and the admixture used.

High-strength concretes (HSC) are those with high compressive strength. Only few years ago
the value to consider a concrete a HSC was 50 MPa, but the trend now is to classify as HSC those
that have between 80 and 100 MPa of characteristic compressive strength. Again, these concretes
may contain fibers or not, and may be or not self-compacting. As a general rule, a HSC is reached
increasing the quality of the aggregates, increasing the cement content and reducing the Water/
Cement ratio. Ultra-High Strength Concretes (UHSC) are those which compressive strength exceeds
150 MPa. This term is rarely used, as they are directly named UHPC or UHPFRC. The last have the
properties of the three concrete technologies mentioned before (FRC, SCC and UHSC) and it does
it as the combination of them generates synergies that allow to have a material that has particularly
interesting properties:

The UHPC is self-compacting (SCC) to maximize the rise of air and then achieve a very compact
matrix. Besides, vibration is avoided as it would be particularly inappropriate for the thin and slender
elements generally built with this concrete. UHPC contains fibers (between a 1.5% and a 3% of
the total volume, which is between 120 kg/m3 and 240 kg/m3) because they avoid a brittle failure
when very high stresses under compression are reached. Besides, the compacity of the matrix
provides them of a high bonding strength, generating a strain-hardening response (under tension
a significant amount of microfibers are formed instead of a macro crack). UHPC has a very high
compressive strength (UHSC) as it is designed with a very low Water/Cement ratio that improves
the bonding of the fibers and allows the mechanical response previously explained.

12
Figure 5. Relation between different type of special concretes

13
Mix design and properties
of UHPC.

The most relevant particularities of a mix design of UHPC compared to ordinary concrete are:

1) High content of cement, silica fume and high tensile strength steel fibers.
2) Use of last-generation superplasticizers to achieve a high flowability.
3) Use of aggregates with a minimum absorption, high strength and reduced maximum diameter.

The table below shows the most common range of the mix design of UHPC and compares its
properties with those from ordinary concrete. The production of this concrete requires a specific
mixing process, a careful curing of the elements and an intense quality control that assures tht
the material guarantees the properties indicated in the project.

Table 1. Mix design and typical properties of a UHPC mixture

14
 Table 2. Magnitude order of the durability of different concrete types

The figure below shows a relative comparison between different materials and the properties of
the structures that can be designed with them. This comparison is done for the fields of application
where it is logic to use UHPC, and they only represent the perspective of the author.

Table 3. Performance of Formex® compared with the performance of some of the most common materials used in civil
engineering and industry.

15
 UHPC can be divided in two main groups depending on the origin of the mix. In one side
there are the premixes, which are a dry formulation of UHPC blended previously. The fresh UHPC
is achieved adding only water and fibers and mixing. This is the most used product when the
element produced is used for an arquitectural application. The most known premix in the market
is the Ductal®, owned by Lafarge Holcim. On the other side, the mix design of a UHPC can be
also developed by a precast company, using generally local raw materials and adapting the
performance for the needs of each application. As example, Formex® is the UHPC developed by
RDC and used by PREFFOR, as Hi-Con uses the CRC i2®. This type of UHPC is more common for
structures used in civil engineering, particularly if the volume of material is significant, The self-
developed mixtures are a growing trend thanks to the increasing knowledge about the UHPC and
the need to reduce costs and to introduce its structures in new sectors.

16
Main advantages of UHPC
structures.
Lightness

UHPC structures can be up to 70% ligther than ordinary concrete structures, having a weight
comparable with steel structures. This is caused by several reasons:

1) UHPC has a density comparable to the ordinary concrete, but its high mechanical performance
under compression, bending and tensión allows it to carry the same loads with a more reduced
section. Besides, its elastic modulus is between 25 and 50% higher than the value for ordinary
concrete.

2) The high fiber content of UHPC gives to it a toughness significantly higher than for conventional
FRC, so that the shear stirrups and secondary reinforcements can be removed. Thus, they do
not condition the dimensions of the section. Besides of allowing to design a lighter structure, this
allows to simplify and accelerate the precasting of the elements.

3) It is well known that the cover in concrete structures is conditioned by the speed of progress of
the aggressive agents from the surface to the reinforcement. The high compacity and minimum
porosity of the UHPC matrix in uncracked state allows to reduce these covers to the values
indicated at Table 4. This leads to an additional reduction of the use of resources in the structures.
To guarantee this, the french Norm NF P 18-710 (2016) requires that the UHPC has in uncracked
state a value of porosity to water lower than 9%, that the value of chloride ingress according to the
NT Build 492 is below 5·10-13 m/s2 and that the apparent permeability coefficient to gases after
90 days is below 9·10-19 m2 according to the norm XP P 18-463:2011..

17
Table 4. Minimum nominal cover required bt the norm NF P18-710 for different environments and structural classes of
prestressed UHPC structures

4) The high content of high tensile strength fibers gives to the material a high ductility under
tension, which is in many cases associated to a strain hardening behaviour. This phenomenon
allows that a UHPC structure is submitted under service to a considerable strain under tension
with microcracks that do not exceed a width of 50 μm. This implies that the durability of the
element under cracked state is very high even with the reduced covers allowed by the norm.

18
 Figure 6. Microcracking observed in a UHPC prestressed element with 27 m of length (depth=23 cm) submitted to a
bending moment that exceeds the 80% of its maximum bending strength. The average crack width observed under this
test was of 22 μm

Durability

The previous explanations show the excellent corrosion strength of a UHPC structure, both
in uncracked and cracked state. This has been demonstrated not only in dozens of research
projects (see [1],[2],[3],[4],[5]), but tested in several civil engineering structures performed with this
material. For example, the first UHPC footbridge made in Spain (43 m of span, made with Formex®
and installed 100 m from the sea in Alicante, Spain) was installed in 2013. Now, 10 years after its
construction it does not show any sign of degradation and it did not require any reparation or
maintenance. Other example are the UHPC floating farms (rafts) that are installed in the Atlantic
ocean since 2016. They are in an XS3 exposure environment and submitted to the continuous
movement of the waves. There are more than 40 structures of 540 m2 floating on the water,
all of them under perfect conditions and with no maintenance required up to now. A monitoring
system to control the potential and intensity of corrosion was installed in three of these structures
to prove the the absence of corrosion in the reinforcement, both in uncracked and cracked beams.
More information about these tests can be found in [6].

19
 Besides, the autogenous self-healing of UHPC provides an additional safety factor to reduce or
close the cracks that may appear accidentally or under service. This phenomenon is characterized
by the progressive close of cracks that appear in the concrete matrix. It is more intense in UHPC
than in ordinary concrete as it has a higher content of un-hydrated cement, and its crack width is
generally lower (<0.1 mm). The self-healing phenomena can be induced by specific admixtures or
systems (induced self-healing), but it is yet not clear if it is interesting to add them to UHPC as it
already has intrinsically excellent properties.

Figure 7. UHPC handrail to avoid the maintenance needs that a design with wood would have

20
Sustainability

It is well known that a sustainable production should consider the known as waste hierarchy,
which has the following priority ranking: Reduce, reuse and recycle. Designing adequately products
with UHPC is fully aligned with this policy: The volume of resources used reduces between a 40%
and a 70% compared with ordinary concretes. As the lifespan of a UHPC solution is longer, the
consumption of material per unit time is even more reduced, particularly considering that there are
also saving associated to the absence of maintenance products. This implies that the volume of
material to be recycled per unit of time is more than an 80% lower than what would be required
for an ordinary concrete structure.

The reduction of weight of the elements implies also a lower environmental impact associated
to its transport and commissioning. Besides, the connection between pieces can be done with
bolts or connectors, facilitating the reuse of the structural elements, that can be conceived as
components. This property is particularly relevant for UHPC structures due to their long lifespan,
which requires to design them considering that structure may be decommissioned at any moment
and reuse the elements in other location or application.

Figure 8. Bolted connections used to facilitate the (de)commissioning (left), and progressive improvement of the
sustainability per m3 of Formex®

21
 Finally, it should be highlighted the increasing efforts of the cement industry to produce cements
with lower carbon footprint. This is facilitating the reduction of environmental impact of UHPC per
cubic meter. As an example, in the case of Formex® the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 1 m3
has been reduced a 38% in the period 2018-2022. Being the footprint of ordinary concrete (fck=40
MPa) with 80 kg/m3 of reinforcement (steel rebars) approximately 430 kgCO2/m3, the Formex®
is approximately a 15% more sustainable already in the construction stage, as the amount of
material used to build a precast element is approximately a half. Apart from that, the greatest
environmental benefits of UHPC structures are associated to their longer lifespan and the savings
in maintenance products and operations. As example of this sustainability, if these two factors are
considered, the Formex® rafts have a GWP about 55% lower than the traditional rafts [7].

These advantages let us state that UHPC structures are aligned with the goals of the Sustainable
Development Goals of the UN (8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; 9: Industry, Innovation
and Inftructure; 12: Responsible Consumption and Production; 13: Climate Action; 14: Life Below
Water).

Freedom of forms

Precast concrete has experienced an exponential growth in the last years, replacing many in-
situ works towards a higher industrialization of the sector. Precasting with ordinary concrete allows
certain freedom in the form, but it is limited by the geometry of the rebars and by a potential
damage of the piece during the demoulding. In the case of UHPC, precasting gives much more
freedom: The elements are less conditioned by the rebars as traditional reinforcement is
lower or does not exist, and the material toughness allows that thin elements can be demoulded
without risks. Finally, the high content of fines of the UHPC provides an excellent surface finishing,
being possible to create more sophisticated pieces (with a variety of textures, colors, etc) than
the typically massive concrete structures.

22
When can UHPC provide
the most efficient
solution?.

UHPC is adequate there where other materials are inefficient or where it habilitates to have
a structural solution that is unfeasible with traditional options. It is well known that certain
materials have a good performance when they are submitted to different stresses, but most of
them are limited under certain exposure environments or demanding applications. For example,
steel has a high ductility and tensile strength, but it is difficult to shape it and requires protection
against corrosion and fire. Plastic can easily adapt to shapes, but its carbon footprint is significant
and its reduced elastic modulus make it difficult to use it as a structural material. Finally, ordinary
concrete has an excellent ratio between compressive strength and cost, but its reduced toughness
under tension requires to reinforce it with steel rebars. These bars require minimum covers to avoid
corrosion, increasing the weight of the structure. UHPC is a sensitive response to avoid all these
problems and limitations, considering its high workability and its excellent ratio performance/
cost.

As already mentioned, UHPC structures have three main advantages: 1) Their reduced weight
as a consequence of the high performance of the material used; 2) Their excellent durability and
resiliency; 3) Their slenderness and surface finishing. This implies that the UHPC structures can
provide very competitive solutions when there is at least one of the following situations:

1) There where the lightness provides significant competitive advantages (floating elements,
cantilevers, reparation of structures, works where the transportation and manipulation costs are
complex or expensive…). In these cases UHPC is generally the most cost-efficient solution from

23
the construction stage, or even it provides the only solution feasible. Two clear examples of these
type of applications are the floating UHPC pontoons installed in the largest floating solar panel
plant installed in a European dam (5 MW, Alqueva, Portigal. Client: EDP), or the use of ultra-light
panels for the construction of modular buildings. It should be highlighted that the lightness and
the minimum thickness of UHPC elements create new possibilities that were always impossible
with ordinary concretes, as creating ultra-light preslabs or protection coatings with 30-mm of
thickness.

2) There where a high durability provides significant competitive advantages (structures in XS

exposure environment (EN206-1), fatigue, abrasion, thermal cycles, impact loads, etc). In these
cases using UHPC implies lower maintenance costs and a longer lifespan. Some clear examples
of the use of UHPC in these applications are the power plants of Cattenom and Civaux [8], or the
reparation of the Caderousse and Beaucaire dams in the Alps [9]..

3) There where the architectural value is highly appreciated by the client (singular buildings,
slender buildings, stairs with minimum thickness…etc). In these cases UHPC does not compete by
cost but by exclusivity, as it allows to carry out designs that are unfeasible with other materials.
Two examples of this are the south Station of the TGV in Montpellier [10] or the construction of
the MUCEM in Marseille [11].

Figure 9 shows a ternary diagram (E. Camacho, 2020) with each of these competitive advantages
in a corner, placing the most common applications with UHPC in different regions depending on
the relevance that the durability, the lightness, or the aesthetic had to make of the solution the
best alternative. As can be seen, it is very usual that in applications where the UHPC is the best
option at least two of the three features give competitive advantages. For example, on footbridges
[12, 13] or in the thin overlays frequently used in the US and Switzerland [14, 15] both the durability
and the lightness provide noticeable benefits comparing with traditional materials.

Besides of all this, is should be mentioned that the international rise of the steel prices
experienced during 2021 make the UHPC structures gain competitive compared to steel structures,
and particularly compared with those made with galvanized or stainless-steel structures. This fact
is not constant, depending on the economic and social circumstances of each moment.

24
 Figure 9. Most common applications with UHPC plotted depending on the relevance of their main competitive
advantages

UHPC has proven to be useful in a wide spectrum of sectors. The democratization of its use
requires to understand the specific applications where it provides the most efficient solution.
Contrary to what many may think, a great amount of these uses are not replacing ordinary concrete,
and they are not even in the construction sector. The way to unlock this potential is cooperating
with the different industrial sectors, maintaining and open mind and trying to avoid preconceptions.

25
Sectors with potential for
the development of UHPC
solutions.

Up to now, UHPC has been mainly used in construction, real state and industrial sectors, and
in a lesser extent in the energy sector.

Civil engineering applications require a significant volume of material, but it is a field where
UHPC generally can provide an alternative to a structure that can be done with ordinary concrete
or steel. In many cases the savings in maintenance make the UHPC the most cost-efficient at
medium term. However, to avoid the cost barrier the solution should be the most economic from
the construction stage, and this is not always possible. This explains the slow progress of the UHPC
solutions in this sector up to now. The increase of the steel costs experienced in 2021 and 2022 is
allowing UHPC to compete in costs at the construction stage in a larger spectrum of applications.

In other sectors the benefits of UHPC can be more evident from day one or at least at a shorter
term. In the field of floating renewable energy plants (offshore wind or floating solar energy) having
a lighter structure implies to have significant savings in transport and commissioning. Thus, there
are more possibilities of proposing a cost-efficient solution from the construction stage, having
additional savings in maintenance thanks to the corrosion strength of UHPC even in aggressive
environments.

An example of this are the UHPC stiffeners designed by RDC and Isigenere for the Alqueva
floating solar plant (5 MW), installed in 2022. Produced by PREFFOR, this solution was not only more

26
durable than the initial proposal, but also more economic and sustainable due to the considerable
reduction of resources used to build the precast elements. The high growth rate of the sector of
the renewable energies facilitates the introduction of UHPC innovations, particularly in the offshore
field as traditional materials do not always provide an ideal solution.

The case of the industrial sector is somehow similar. In this field there are many are areas
exposed to thermal cycles, intense abrasion, fatigue, impact, acids, etc, so the advantages of a
higher durability are obvious even at short term. In facto, this is the sector where a Danish company
called Densit (currently owned by ITW Performance Polymers) started to use the UHPC in the ’80,
proving that there was a great spectrum of competitive applications. In all of them, the toughness
and durability of this material allowed to reduce the downtimes and to prevent contingencies,
something that has significant benefits in the industrial world. To continue generalizing the use
of UHPC it is necessary to promote the communication between the industrial engineers and the
experts in the material (which are mainly civil and material engineers).

Summarizing, the development of UHPC solutions beyond civil engineering requires to conceive
it as something more than a construction material. More communication between sectors and
“think out of the box” attitude are required to understand where this concrete can provide value.
The hidden potential to unlock is precisely in the applications that are not obvious.

27
Market barriers.

There are several causes hindering a wide use of UHPC, and they are different in each country
and sector. The most significant are:

● Lack of knowledge by the engineers: There are few engineers familiarized with UHPC, and very
few that have experience calculating with this material. The lack of expertise hampers that those
that try to start designing with the material reach competitive solutions, and this implies that
most of them never become a reality.

● Cost of the material: UHPC has a cost between 5 and 10 times higher than ordinary concrete
(approximately half of the cost are fibers), so that only when the application makes use of the
capacity of the material and the design is optimized it is possible to compete in costs. To “jump”
this barrier the market trend is to use concretes with a range of compressive strength between
100 and 150 MPa (HPFRC). These are concretes that can provide some of the advantages that
UHPC has, but at a lower cost.

● Regulatory frame: There are still only few countries that count with a specific norm or
recommendation for UHPC (France, Switzerland, Canada, Japan, etc). In many of the other countries,
as in Spain, it is allowed to support the structural designs done with this material using foreign
norms or with a well-argued technical justification.

● Absence of success-case stories: The structures produced up to now with UHPC represent a
small percentage of the total concrete structures in the world, something that is a “mental barrier”
for many engineers that face its use for first time. To reduce this barrier if is of great importance
that the UHPC structures that become a reality are documented, controlled and monitored. The

28
positive results will facilitate at medium and long term the development of the sector, being a
guarantee of durability for the eyes of the designers.

Figure 10. Footbridge in Guadassuar.

29
History of the UHPC
structures and relevant
international references.

The danish researcher Hans Henrik Bache developed in 1981 the known as DSP (Densified Small
Particle), a fine binder with plasticizer able to achieve a very high packing density. Five years later
(1986) the addition of dispersed fibers provided to this material the toughness to make of it what
is currently known as the first UHPC of the history. In 1994 De Larrard and Sedran “baptized” for
first time this concept, defining it as a cementitious material with high performance thanks to a
design specifically oriented to optimize the packing density and applying thermal curing.

At the late 90’s, several companies launched to the market and registered their own UHPC
premix (Ductal® from Lafarge, BSI/Ceracem® from Sika and Eiffage, BCV® from Vicat, CEMTEC
Multiscale®…), promoting the use of these commercial mixtures for architecture or aggressive
environments. Progressively other UHPC mixtures appeared in the market, these produced
with locally available materials and with performance tailored for each mix. This helped for the
democratization of the material and the adoption in 2016 of the first Norm of UHPC in France (NF
P 18-710: Complement to the Eurocode 2 with specific rules for the design with UHPC; and NF P
18 470: UHPC: Specifications, performance, production and conformity), published by the AFNOR.
This is still considered the most widely accepted Norm at international level for the design with
UHPC.

30
 The first civil engineering structure built with UHPC was the Sherbrooke footbridge (1997, Canada),
followed by an increasing number of applications in the field of energy, industry, architecture
and civil engineering. The most active countries using it structurally are France, United States,
Switzerland, Denmark, East Asia (Japón, Corea, Malasia) and Spain. In the following lines the most
relevant aspects in each of these countries is summarized.

France: A noticeable number of singular buildings and footbridges were produced with UHPC (for
example the MUCEM in Marsella, the south TGV train station in Montpellier, or the Pont du Diable
in Gorges de l’Herault), as many structures conceived to minimize the maintenance both in civil
engineering and the industrial sector (the deck of the viaduct in Bourg-lès-Valence, the bridge of
the Republique (2017), or the beams of the cooling tower of the power plants of Cattenom and
Civaux in 1997 and 1998). The country counts with a great number of researchers actively working
with UHPC technology, some of which were involved in the development of the national Norm.

US: This country started its main research efforts working with UHPC in 2001, when the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) initiated a research project as part of its initative The bridge of
the future to understand the optimum applications of UHPC in bridges. The greatest compilations
of results of this work is published in the document “Ultra-High Performance Concrete: A State-
of-the-Art Report for the Bridge Community” (Publication nº FHWA-HRT-13-060, June 2013).
Currently, there are many researches under progress and the FHWA is promoting the knowledge

Figure 11. Aplications in road bridges in US (left) and Switzerland (right)

31
of the UHPC capacities and highlighting its advantages. This link from the administration shows
an interactive map of the bridges where UHPC has been used up to now. The colors indicate the
year (it is updated up to 2020). Up to 2020 UHPC as used in more than 350 structures, with an
increase that is currently exponential, particularly in the overlays to repair bridge decks. It is also
used to connect bridge decks, to precast them and to repair existing structures.

Switzerland: In this country some UHPC footbridges have been installed, but it stands out for
having executed more than 250 projects of thin overlays to guarantee durability in structures.
Since 2016 it counts with the Technical Report SIA 2052 from the Swiss Society of Engineers and
Architects that provides information regarding designs, concepts and research results obtained in
the country with UHPC.

Denmark: In this country UHPC started to develop in the 80’, so there is a wide knowledge between
the companies of what UHPC is and what are its main applications. In the region can be found
some of the providers of technology and UHPC premixes, which are in part providing material for
he offshore wind farms built in the Baltic Sea. Besides, the Danish company Hi-Con has a wide
variety of UHPC balcones and stairs available in the market.

East Asia: In Japan and South Corea several footbridges and bridges have been built. Besides, the
largest construction made with UHPC up to now was the Haneda airport (Japan), installed in the
sea and under seismic zone. Finally, the malaysian company Dura has built up to now more than
a hundred of road bridges with its own UHPC mix design. This is, possibly, the precast company
that has produced the largest volume of UHPC up to date at a world scale.

Spain: The first civil engineering structure made with UHPC in Spain was the footbridge over the
Oveja’s ravine (44 m of span, year 2013, Alicante). Winner of an award granted by the American
Concrete Institute (ACI) and by ACHE (Spanish Structural Concrete Asociation), this became the
first world truss footbridge made only with UHPC. The piece was designed by Juan Ángel López,
co-founder of RDC. The members of this engineering company have designed too the first UHPC
bridge made in Spain (2017), the first world floating UHPC farm (patented in 2015 and installed in
2016 for first time, there are currently more than 20.000 m2 of Formex® floating farms), and the
first world application of UHPC in the sector of floating solar energy. This pontoon is a floating

32
stiffener patented by RDC and Isigenere, and it has been installed in the largest plant in a EU dam,
with 5 MW of power installed (2021, Alqueva, Portugal). The table below shows the most relevant
milestones done in structures with UHPC in Spain up to date, and all of them were done with
Formex®.

Figure 12. Photovoltaic plant with 5 MW of power installed, located in Alqueva (Portugal). The perimetral pontoons and
floating substation are made with Formex®

33
Table 5. Most relevant milestones reached with UHPC structures in Spain

34
Figure 13. Location of the most relevant milestones built with UHPC in Spain. The numbers refer to the column starting
from the left side of the table.

35
References.

[1] 1st International Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete. September 13 - 15, 2004,
Kassel, Germany.

[2] 2nd International Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete. March 5-7, 2008, Kassel,
Germany.

[3] 3rd International Symposium on UHPC and Nanotechnology for High Performance Construction
Materials, Kassel, March 7 - 9, 2012.

[4] 4th International Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete and High Performance
Materials, Kassel, March 9-11, 2016.

[5] HiPerMat 2020, 5th International Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete and High
Performance Materials Kassel, March 11-13, 2020.

[6] Project ReSHEALience. https://uhdc.eu/pilot-rdc-trl7/

[7] Caruso, M.C., Pascale, C., Camacho, E. et al. Comparative environmental and social life cycle
assessments of off-shore aquaculture rafts made in ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). Int
J Life Cycle Assess 27, 281–300 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-02017-6

[8] Field Demonstration of UHPFRC Durability. Toutlemonde, François; Bouteiller, Véronique; Platret,
Gérard; Carcasses, Myriam; Lion, Maxime. Concrete International; Farmington Hills (Nov 2010): 39-
45.

36
[9] Strengthening of hydraulic structures with UHPC. L. Guingot, D. Dekhil, P. Soulier. RILEM-fib-
AFGC International Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Fibre-Reinforced Concrete (2013). Print
ISBN: 978-2-35158-130-8. Publisher: RILEM Publications S.A.R.L. Pages: 137 – 146.

[10] Roofing of Montpellier - South of France TGV Station. M. Mimram, M. Bonera, G. Barrau,
P.Mazzacane. UHPFRC 2017 Designing and Building with UHPFRC: New large-scale implementations,
recent technical advances, experience and standards. Print-ISBN : 978-2-35158-166-7. Publisher :
RILEM Publications SARL. Pages: 837 – 856

[11] MUCEM: The builder’s perspective. P. Mazzacane, R. Ricciotti, F. Teply, E. Tollini, D. Corvez.
RILEM-fib-AFGC International Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Fibre-Reinforced Concrete
(2013). Print ISBN: 978-2-35158-130-8. RILEM Publications S.A.R.L. Pages: 3 – 16

[12] Footbridge over the Ovejas ravine in Alicante: An economical alternative made only of ultra-
high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC). P. Serna, J. López, E. Camacho, H. Coll, J.
Navarro. - doi.org/10.35789/fib.BULL.0079.Ch41

[13] Fehling, E., Bunje, K. and Schmidt, M. (2011). Gärtnerplatz – Bridge over River Fulda in Kassel:
Multispan Hybrid UHPC-Steel Bridge. In Designing and Building with UHPFRC (eds F. Toutlemonde
and J. Resplendino). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118557839.ch10

[14] Bertola Numa, Schiltz Philippe, Denarié Emmanuel, Brühwiler Eugen. A Review of the Use of
UHPFRC in Bridge Rehabilitation and New Construction in Switzerland. Frontiers in Built Environment.
Volume 7, 2021. DOI=10.3389/fbuil.2021.769686

[15] Ultra-High Performance Concrete for Bridge Deck Overlays. FHWA Publication N0: FHWA-
HRT-17-097. U.S. Department of Transportation. Contact: Ben Graybeal, Zach Haber

[16] Naaman, Antoine. (2003). Strain hardening and deflection hardening fiber reinforced cement
composites. High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cement Composites (HPFRCC-4). 95-113.

37
 Thank you.

If you want more info about our UHPC consultant, RDC, please
visit us at rdconcrete.com

If you want more info about our UHPC precast Formex © don’t
hesitate to visit preffor.com