SYMDEX’13, is the most important national seminar on maintenance
and the lifecycle of the defence and safety industry
FCC lndustrial
proves that infrastructure
maintenance generates savings
The Asphaltgen project,
led by Servià Cantó, obtains the seal of the European
Eureka Organization
FCC Industrial took part in the SYMDEX’13 con-
ferences, the most important national seminar
on maintenance and the lifecycle of the defence
and safety sector which was held in Madrid on
2 and 3 June. The company also demonstra-
ted that it is essential to implement sustainable
policies for infrastructures since this generates
efficiency and cost savings.
Javier Pablo Ainchil Lavin, the technical director
of FCC’s Infrastrucrtures area, discussed sustai-
nable construction of infrastructures and poin-
ted out four key aspects that should be taken
into account: durability, efficiency, possibility of
renewal, and resilience, that is, resistance under
exceptional circumstances such as in the event
of fire.
Ainchil also spoke on how to make an installa-
tion sustainable, on the processes and included
the use of advanced materials, design, and in-
novation, construction or industrial methods,
and on environmentally-friendly measures.
The Asphaltgen project, led by Servià Can-
tó, obtained the seal of the European Eureka
Organization. Asphaltgen is a bi-national
R+D+i proposal submitted by Spanish (the
road building company Servià Cantó S.A.,
Aplicaciones de la Catálisis S.L. and Rovira
i Virgili University in Tarragona.) and Turkish
companies (Tüpras and Istanbul University).
It focuses on investigating new pavements
with self-generating properties so as to ob-
tain mastic asphalts cabled of automatically
repairing possible fissures or other problems
produced in their interior as a result of traffic
or the deterioration of the bituminous mixtu-
re. The possibility of repairing fissures in the
asphaltic agglomerate will make it possible
to reduce road maintenance and upkeep
expense and will also enhance users’ safety.
By being awarded the EUREKA seal
Asphaltgen is now considered a European
project and makes it possible to receive bi-
lateral funding from the Spanish Centre for
Technological and Industrial Development
(CDTI, Spanish acronym) and by Turkey’s
Board of Scientific and Technological Re-
search (TÜBITAK - Türkiye Bilimsel ve Tek-
nolojik Araştirma Kurumu).
