Concrete in the Netherlands

Historical studies of concrete in late 19th and 20th century built cultural heritage are often presented from an architectural point of view. In order to assess cultural heritage values, however, the material concrete should also be evaluated by itself, i.e. as manifestation of a combination of cements (and other binders) and aggregates used in a particular time. These do not only reflect the state-of-art of concrete technology at that time, but also determine physical-mechanical and durability properties that should be taken into account when considering an intervention. In the present contribution, an overview is given of binders and aggregates used in Dutch historic concretes. With respect to the latter, the work of the late architect H.G.J. Schelling is discussed. In the 1950's, Schelling designed a remarkable series of railway stations, combining a concrete structure cast on site with prefabricated concrete elements with various carefully selected aggregates.