UK universities face a “big job” in inspecting campuses for the presence of unsafe concrete, with the complexity of most estates and the high demand for structural engineers adding to the potential for more disruption at the start of the academic year.
Some institutions have already had to close buildings constructed using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), with others in the process of undertaking urgent inspections in light of new guidance from the Department for Education that warns that these types of buildings are at risk of sudden collapse.
Raac was used widely as a building material from the 1950s until the 1990s, and the majority of universities should be aware that they might be affected, said Chris Goodier, professor of construction engineering and materials at Loughborough University.
“Will we find any? Yes – why wouldn’t we?” he said. “Most universities built something in the 1960s and 1970s. It could be a flat-roofed lecture hall or academic offices. I would guess almost every university built something like this at that time, and therefore you need to inspect and probably you will find some of it.”
