The fifth edition of the “Italian Concrete Days” fair-exhibition ended on Saturday 20 April at the Piacenza Expo, an international event dedicated to construction technologies and the concrete industry. The Air Force, which participated in the trade fair event with an exhibition stand, presented the equipment used in the creation of concrete airport pavements and the related complex design capabilities underlying them.
In fact, concrete technology constitutes a very large part of airport flooring, as well as the main operational infrastructures of the Air Force. Made by the groups' technical staff field genius - infrastructure service of the logistics command of the Air Force -, the works are in fact carried out with the use of specialized equipment for the high-performance survey of the characteristics and conditions of airport pavements, with the aim of planning the planned maintenance interventions and supporting airport certifications. This capacity is guaranteed, specifically, by the "Infrastructure Testing Laboratory" of the 2nd AM engineering department of Ciampino.
During the first day of the event, which began on 18 April, in the presence of local authorities and over 200 exhibitors, the judging commission of the Italian Concrete Technology Awards handed over to the Air Force, “as a virtuous Public Administration in the sector of the construction of large infrastructure works”, an award for the contribution provided during the period of the Coronavirus pandemic, with the creation, by a task force composed of personnel from the three field engineering groups, within the former complex Large Repair Workshops of Turin, of a healthcare area for intensive care intended for patients affected by Covid-19. Brigadier General Mario Sciandra, head of the infrastructure service, in thanking the prestigious recognition given to the Air Force, wanted to underline on this occasion how, “thanks to the sacrifice of the men and women of the Blue Army, the Armed Forces, particularly in critical moments, put themselves at the service of the country to give their contribution of professionalism and dedication”.
On the second day of the fair, as part of the conference entitled "Technologies for concrete in the airport field, from underground to satellites, from digitalisation to artificial intelligence", Brig. gen. Sciandra who wanted to underline the intimate connection of the operational capabilities of the AM with concrete technology, which constitutes a very large part of the airport flooring as well as the main operational infrastructures. Precisely starting from this observation, considering the objectives of carbon neutrality by 2040 declared by the Air Force as part of the initiative launched by the Royal Air Force, the Global Air Forces Climate Change Collaboration, the brigadier general invited operators in the sector to develop concretes with increasingly greater durability to reduce the life cycle cost of the works and, consequently, CO2 emissions.
Brigadier General Stefano Cimichella, head of the 1st department of the infrastructure service, then spoke, illustrating the evolution of the infrastructure of the Armed Forces in its first 100 +1 years of life, the organization of the infrastructure sector of the AM, the main ongoing infrastructure programs and the future challenges posed by the "Aeroporti Azzurri" programme. The subsequent interventions by the AM engineering staff touched on specific topics connected to the world of concrete and flooring, also in terms of correct management of economic resources, and with a focus, for example, on rigid flooring and water drainage works meteoric events, and the possible applications of artificial intelligence to the monitoring of airport pavements.
