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Structural ageing, action by aggressive agents, accidents, etc., all make it increasingly necessary to apply conservation and maintenance programs to building structures. Columns are some of a building's most critical elements, since the failure of a single column can lead to the collapse of the entire structure or a large part of it. Although great strides have been made in recent years in the field of reinforced concrete (RC) column repair and strengthening, there is room for further improvement in certain areas. This paper describes a study carried out in the ICITECH laboratories (Universitat Politècnica de València) on RC columns repaired on all four sides with cementitious-based mortars. A total of 18 specimens were tested, representing a group of square 20x20 mm 2 columns subjected to compressive axial loads. Different repair scenarios were considered in order to study the influence of the type of mortar used and the presence or absence of bonding agents between the mortar and the column concrete. The results obtained showed that bonding agents have no appreciable effect on the behaviour of the repaired columns. Of the two types of mortar used in the study (Classes R3 and R4), the columns repaired with the lower grade mortar (R3) were seen to behave better. The main novelty of this work lies in the fact that this is the first time that two types of mortar are compared in the repair of four column sides, in addition to the possible use of bonding agents between the mortar and the column.

EmeraldPellicer Armiñana, TM.; Pellicer Armiñana, E.; Eaton, D. (2009) PURPOSE:This paper analyses the international construction sector from a macroeconomic point of view through production functions. The aim is to contribute additional knowledge on the European construction sector, highlighting differences in the industry among European countries DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH:In order to analyse the sector panel data from 1996-2005 for nine European countries were used. Raw data was obtained from Eurostat (Bach Project).Variables for the production functions were chosen after a correlation analysis.Annual turnover was taken as the dependent variable, whereas total assets and personnel costs were the independent variables. The econometric regression models considered were linear (bivariate and multivariate) and logarithmic (CobbDouglas). FINDINGS:In spite of the limitations stated bellow, there are some factors that can explain the results obtained, such as the diverse preponderance of small and medium enterprises and the different roles played by informal economy, migration and subcontracting in each of the countries. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS:Data collected by Eurostat is provided by the enterprises voluntarily. This implies a bias in the representativeness of the data. Thus, the discrepancies and inconsistencies in the results obtained are a direct consequence of the data limitations. Furthermore, the regression models obtained should be tested using 3 future data to predict the behaviour of the construction industry in each one of the countries. ORIGINALITY/VALUE:The use of production functions in the construction industry is a novel approach that should be further developed to gather more precise information on the behaviour of the sector. KEYWORDS: Europe -Macroeconomics -Production Functions -ConstructionSector -SMEs CATEGORY OF PAPER: Research paper 4 A MACROECONOMIC REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ABSTRACTThe construction industry is vital for economies as a whole, even though it is not as fully analysed as are other sectors. The lack of scholarly attention is more pronounced when international construction is examined from a macroeconomic point of view. In order to fill partially this gap, a macro-economic regression analysis approach to the international construction sector of Europe is described in this paper. It analyses the European construction industry from two dimensions: time and country. Data from 1996-2005 for nine countries were used. The analysis was performed using production functions. Regression models were constructed that could be tested using future data to predict the behaviour of the construction industry in each of the countries. The discrepancies and inconsistencies in the results obtained were a direct consequence of the limitations of the data. Nevertheless, among the significant factors which explain the results are the diverse preponderance of small and medium enterprises and the different contributions of the informal economy, migration and s...

As the marine atmosphere is very harmful to reinforced concrete (RC) structures, buildings situated close to the sea are at a high risk of suffering damage. Such is the case of many of the buildings near the coast in Valencia (Spain). Most of these buildings were built between 1968 and 2007 and nowadays their RC structures are seriously damaged. This paper describes the condition of 1816 buildings that were inspected in 14 towns placed in Valencia coast. From these inspections, there have been identified the main factors which are the most significant in the damage of these RC structures by the aggressive marine conditions. These factors include environmental characteristics, urban parameters and construction system of the buildings.