The exceptionally high level of support for, and interest in, the operations of The Concrete Institute has shown how much the building and construction industries appreciate the Institute’s preservation of the services previously rendered by the now defunct Cement & Concrete Institute.

Bryan Perrie, managing director of The Concrete Institute, says the volume of inquiries calling for advice on concrete technology matters has not abated, student numbers at the Institute’s School of Concrete Technology continue to be high, and demand for the services of the Information Centre has been a revelation.

“It’s been back to business almost from the day we announced that AfriSam, Lafarge and Sephaku had stepped in to fund The Concrete Institute to preserve the vital education and consulting services previously provided by the Cement & Concrete Institute,” states Perrie.

Martha de Jager who, with Susan Battison, manages the Information Centre says sales of publications have also been running at very high levels.

“The marketplace seems relieved that The Concrete Institute is continuing to sell all the publications previously published by the C&CI. When we exhibited at the recent Totally Concrete expo at Sandton Convention Centre, sales of our publications were so high that we had to fetch new stocks for the stand.”

Battison says the support for the Information Centre has come from construction and building industry members at all levels.

“We’ve provided reference material for the research work of students and top academics since re-opening in May,” she says.

The School of Concrete Technology’s 2013 Education Programme has just been published and the second edition of the ‘Concrete Projects for the Garden’ is also now available from The Concrete Institute.