Trade Journals for the Concrete Industry

Prefabrication is an industrial process with a large potential for the future. However, it is often felt that architects, engineers and contractors hesitate to use the technique because of lack of knowledge on the structural mechanics of precast construction and the design, detailing and execution of projects. The topic is seldom taught at universities and generally not covered by post-graduate training in professional design practices. Some academics are of the opinion that education at Technical Universities should concentrate on basic schooling of Architects and engineers, and that specific construction methods should be acquired afterwards during the professional carrier. Others – and this is also the opinion of the precasting industry – find that prefabrication belongs to the basic education, because of the fundamental differences with classical construction methods, among others in the domain of design philosophy, stability principles, connections, etc.