• The registration fee includes a copy of the workshop proceedings, coffee/tea breaks and lunch and Conference Diner. The fee also comprises the registration to technical day.
  • Authors should submit their 300-word abstract by 01 June 2008 and their full paper by 01 January 2009. Speakers should use powerpoint slides to present their work. Accepted abstracts will be published in the workshop proceedings and can be presented as posters during the workshop. All abstracts should be submitted by electronic mail to (both in word and pdf format)
  • For preliminary registration, please send the following details to the conference secretariat:

Name / Title:

Institute/company:

Mailing address / city / postal code / country:

Phone / Fax / E-mail:

Accompanying persons’ name:

€/person
RILEM member / Before 01 April / 350
After 01 April / 400
RILEM non-member / Before 01 April / 420
After 01 April / 450
TC-PAE member / 200
Accompanying Person / 100
  • After preliminary registration you will receive a registration form. Payments can be made by bank transfer or VISA/EuroCard/MasterCard.
  • At the website of the PAE conference( you can download a list of hotels. Please, ask for more information if you are interested in student accommodation.

Laboratoire Matériaux et Durabilité des Constructions

(Laboratory of Materials and Constructions Durability)

INSA-UPS Génie Civil

135 Avenue de Rangueil

31077 Toulouse Cedex 4

SAIC INSA Toulouse

  • The old city of Toulouse of the province of ‘Midi Pyrenees’ is situated on the confluence of the Garonne and the Garonne. A walk through the town on a nice evening, when the most important building is lluminated (le stade de Rugby con!!) is an unforgettable experience. The city, situated only 40 km from Montauban, combines an impressive past with a vivid present.

RILEM TC PAE “Performance of cement-based materials in aggressive aqueous environments” focuses especially on the problems of concrete and cement-based infrastructure having to operate in aggressive aqueous environments:

  • natural environments such as soft or aggressive waters giving rise to concrete leaching
  • public health environments with their associated drainage and treatment structures such as sewers, conduits, waste tanks etc
  • water supply infrastructure with the provision of dams and canals
  • groundwater and other sulphate-bearing solutions
  • industrial and marine structures with natural or artificial highly aggressive environments.

In all these cases, concrete is subjected to a process of degradation whereby mass/ionic exchange processes occur leading to a breakdown of the matrix microstructure and a weakening of the material. In some cases this can be extremely rapid and serious, such as in acidic environments, whether industrially or biogenically generated. In other cases degradation occurs over long periods of time, but the scale of the problem is such that the consequences are also severe, e.g. major dams, marine works, etc. Many industrial processes also generate aggressive aqueous solutions some of which can leach or attack concrete. Furthermore with increasing levels of acid rain being experienced worldwide, the ability of concrete to withstand this form of aggressive attack is also important.

This workshop will focus on the following topics, in 4 sessions:

  • Nature of aggressive aqueous environments including measures of aggressivity; nature of degradation and deterioration mechanisms for different cement-based materials in such aggressive aqueous environments
  • Degradation and service life prediction models for concrete structures in such environments and their effectiveness in being universally applicable
  • Appropriate test methods to assess performance of cement-based materials in such environments, which can be used to characterise and rate relative performance, as well as to inform long term predictions
  • Survey and analysis of the scale of the problem worldwide. Studies of in-situ performance of concrete structures in such environments

A social programme will be provided for accompanying persons.

  • Commented Visit of Toulouse city center (full-day)
  • Excursion to Carcassone historical fortified city (century) (full day)

Organizing committee

  • Prof. Mark Alexander, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town
  • Dr. Eric Samson, SIMCO Technologies Inc., Québec (Qc), Canada
  • Dr. Alexandra Bertron, LMDC, INSA-UPS, Toulouse, France
  • …

Editorial committee

The above, plus:

  • …

Scientific committee

The above, plus:

  • Prof. Karen Scrivener, Laboratory of Construction Materials, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Dr. Alexandra Bertron, LMDC, INSA-UPS, Toulouse, France
  • Prof. Gilles Escadeillas, LMDC, INSA-UPS, Toulouse, France
  • Prof. Josée Duchesne, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, CRIB, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
  • Mr. Alastair Goyns, PIPES Consultancy, South Africa
  • Dr. Emmanuel Guillon, Lafarge Centre de Recherches, France
  • Dr. Patrick LeBescop, CEA Saclay, Lab d’Etude du comportement des bétons et des argiles, France
  • Dr. Marta Castellote, Instituto Eduardo Torroja, Madrid, Spain
  • Dr. Kenneth A. Snyder, NIST, Gaithersburg, USA
  • Dr. Barbara Lothenbach, EMPA, Switzerland
  • Dr. Esperenza Menendez, Instituto Eduardo Torroja, Madrid, Spain
  • Dr. Sylva Modry, Czech Technical University, Czech Republic