ABSTRACT

The origins of the French National Project are to be found in the studies conducted by the national steering committee for research in civil engineering, which resulted in the publication of the 1985 white paper on scientific and technical perspectives in civil engineering. The objective of the project is adequately defined by its title: it is to explore and develop new ways for concrete. In view of this objective, the four main ideas have been defined. The first two ideas include: to ensure the best possible continuity between fundamental research, applied research, experimental structures, codes and development and to promote the idea of closely associating the concepts of 'new materials', 'new designs' and 'new construction methods'. The next two ideas include: to highlight the notion of high performance' and to stress the fact that the best methods of using high performance concrete corresponds most often to the notion of improved durability.