FOCUS ON QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN SCHOOL OF CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY TRAINING FOR 2023

By Jan de Beer on behalf of the Cement & Concrete SA’s School of Concrete Technology (SCT)

Sustainability based on the best practice to ensure that the finished concrete product utilises resources as efficiently as possible is a common theme of Cement & Concrete SA’s School of Concrete Technology (SCT) courses for 2023.

In his foreword to the School’s Training Programme for next year, John Roxburgh, senior lecturer, says the SCT realises how critical it is to produce quality concrete that meets all strength and durability requirements. “Our variety of courses cater for different needs required by a broad spectrum of students,” Roxburgh states. “Our slogan for the year is ‘Not without concrete!’. It is a theme that has run through our lecture courses for many years and so for 2023 we have made it our official slogan.”

The 2023 Training Programme endorses the slogan by featuring photos of images directly linked to concrete – such as the tallest building in the world, the Old Kingdom pyramids, the longest bridge, and longest tunnel in the world. Others are more abstract, such as the launching of the Saturn V rocket in the Apollo 11 mission, symbolic buildings of past empires and happenings, and huge stadiums for world sporting events. “None of these would have been built, existed, or happened without concrete. All the images represent something big or amazing in the history of mankind. Our civilisation has been built off the back of concrete. It is the often unfairly maligned, quiet, solid facilitator of all things we do in this world today,” Roxburgh adds.

The SCT curriculum for 2023 as usual covers 10 standard courses ranging from basic topics such as an “Introduction to Concrete” to more specialised training on various topics including “Concrete for Industrial Floors” and “Concrete Road Design and Construction”.  All the courses are presented “live” in Midrand with some also scheduled for Durban and Cape Town. Furthermore, on an advanced level, the UK Institute of Concrete Technology’s two highly-respected courses, “Concrete Technology and Construction general principals and practical application”, and the pinnacle of concrete training, “Advanced Concrete Technology” (ACT), will continue in 2023. Roxburgh says the ACT modularised self-study programme was successfully launched in 2022 and several delegates have already joined the programme.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points are awarded for selected courses.

The SCT 2023 Training Programme can be downloaded from www.cemcon-sa.org.za or for more information about the SCT courses, phone 011 315 0300.