Self-healing concrete trials could cut £40bn maintenance and repair bill

Led by a team of researchers from Cardiff University, the first major trial of self-healing concrete in the UK is being undertaken at a site in the South Wales Valleys.

Prof Bob Lark, the principal investigator on the project from Cardiff University’s School of Engineering, said: “Our vision is to create sustainable and resilient systems that continually monitor, regulate, adapt and repair themselves without the need for human intervention.

The Materials for Life (M4L) project is piloting three separate concrete-healing technologies for the first time in real-world settings, with a view to incorporating them into a single system that automatically repairs concrete in the built environment.

At present, billions of pounds are spent every year maintaining, fixing and restoring structures such as bridges, buildings, tunnels and roads. According to Cardiff University, Britain spends around £40bn a on the repair and maintenance of structures, most of which are made from concrete.

The overall aim of the Cardiff-led project is to develop a single system that can be embedded into concrete when it is initially set, and then automatically sense when damage occurs. Once damage is detected, the system will be able to repair itself autonomously without the need for human intervention.