Who is the Danish Concrete Society?

The Danish Concrete Society was established in 1947 under the name of Dansk Ingeniørforenings Arbejdsgruppe for Beton og Jernbeton. The initiators of the association were civil engineer Niels Munk Plum and civil engineer Søren Rasmussen.

The objective was to be involved in investigating and explaining theoretical and practical concrete and reinforced concrete problems and to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge of the material's properties, proper manufacture and use.

In the early years, the association had around 300 members, all of whom were civil engineers. In 1956, the Danish Concrete Association became a recognised professional association under the Danish Society of Engineers, permitting others, besides civil engineers, to become members. At the same time, the name was changed to its current Danish Concrete Society.

In the 1970s, membership grew from a relatively stable 350 to around 1,000 members today, following the Danish Society of Engineers decision to allow all its members to join two trade associations.

Since 1948, various membership meetings on current concrete topics have been held every year. The Executive Committee was responsible for the meetings until a lecture committee was established in 1963.

In the 1950s, the topics were basic concrete knowledge such as concrete forms, vibration, uniformity, proportioning and terminology. Hardening technology, reinforcement techniques and tolerances followed, before the focus turned to concrete damage, durability and alkali problems in the 1970s.

Since then, the meetings have gradually taken on a broader profile, where 'hard' concrete knowledge, for example about standards, fire issues and concrete technology, is supplemented with meetings about spectacular construction projects, architecture and association's need for sustainable solutions.

DBF established a course committee in 1949. The first course was held in March 1950 attended by 150 engineers and lasting no less than 14 days! The market for courses was apparently quickly saturated, because after 1952 the activity was put on hold until 1958, when DBF organised the first concrete course for foremen. This course was held for the last time in 1968.

One of DBF’s aims is to cultivate its good network, a characterising feature of the Danish concrete industry. This includes, for example, holding various events that also serve our objective of disseminating knowledge on all things concrete.

Since 1962, DBF has held the successful Danish Concrete Day event every year, which now has over 200 participants and takes place over two days. As part of the concept, the event moves to a new location in Denmark each year. On day one there are various presentations on interesting projects, knowledge sharing or new research. In the evening, a celebratory dinner with music and entertainment is organised. On the second day, participants embark on that year’s field trip to an exciting construction site or building.

Danish Concrete Day hosts the Concrete Award, which has been awarded every two years since it was inaugurated at DBF's 25th anniversary in 1972 based on a donation of DKK 25,000 from the Knud Højgaard Foundation. The award went to architects Knud Friis and Elmar Moltke Nielsen, and Dr Mogens Peter Nielsen. Since then, the prize has grown to DKK 50,000. Each year, the DBF student scholarship of DKK 5,000 is also awarded to two students with an interest in the concrete industry.

Themed days have also been addedsuch as Concrete Repair Day, which has been held every year since 2006 on a par with the Danish Concrete Day event. At this event, the spotlight is on professional knowledge, focusing on practice and new knowledge regarding repair methods.

In addition to our two annual events, DBF's subcommittee for ideas and lectures, IFU, organises various professional events and trips around the country throughout the year.

One of DBF’s areas of focus is the dissemination of knowledge. Since its establishment in 1949, the Danish Concrete Society has issued a number of publications on concrete and related topics. These include 'Godt Betonarbejde' by Erik V. Meyer, 'Betontekniske fagudtryk' by Edouard Suenson and the travel guide around Denmark 'Beton til kunst og nytte'.

In 2008, DBF took the first steps in compiling Betonhåndbogen, the Concrete Handbook, a free online textbook in Danish for anyone to use. The handbook can be used as a textbook for students and as a reference book for graduates. The chapters are written by experts in the various fields and new chapters are added regularly.

In the summer of 1984, DBF joined forces with the associations Dansk Beton Industriforening, Dansk Fabriksbetonforening and Betonelement-Foreningen in publishing the magazine 'Dansk Beton', which can trace its roots all the way back to the magazine 'Cementindustrien' from 1909 and is probably the world's oldest concrete magazine. DBF's journals initially had a very professional profile with an emphasis on concrete technology. In 2007, DBF's three partners merged into Dansk Beton, hence the name change to Magasinet Beton, which is now available in an online version.

Collaboration with concrete associations in the other Nordic countries has been important to DBF. The Nordic Concrete Federation was founded in 1954 as a collaborative body between the concrete associations in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. DBF helped publish the joint Nordic magazine 'Nordisk Beton' between 1957-1983. In 1982, DBF helped establish Nordic Concrete Research, a scientific journal with research articles, and the Nordic Concrete Federation Research Committee (NBFK).

DBF is the national group of the International Federation for Structural Concrete (FIB), which was formed in 1998 through the merger of the Fédération Internationale de la Précontrainte (FIP) and Comité Euro-International du Béton (CEB). DBF appoints two delegates to FIB's general meeting, one of whom is a member of FIB's Board/steering group (Technical Council). DBF is also represented in several of FIB's commissions and working groups, as well as on the editorial committee of the quarterly journal, Structural Concrete. Alongside its annual general meeting, FIB holds a symposium and organises conferences, seminars, courses and workshops. Every two years a PhD symposium is held at which students' projects are presented and discussed, and in 2010 this took place at DTU in Lyngby.