Use of fibres in buildings urged

The seminar on 'Applications of fibres as secondary reinforcement in concrete' outlined that polyfibres while enhancing blast protection and energy absorption will also increase the life of buildings by 30 per cent. Polyfibres, speakers said, adds structural uniformity, withstand low intensity earthquakes and increase time of collapse during heavy tremors.

This seminar, organised by the Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), follows the Union government's attempt to popularise technical textiles. In fact, an expert committee constituted to analyse the uses of technical textiles is set to submit its report to the Centre.

India, one of the few countries boasting a fully integrated textile setup, has a negligible technical textiles base though. With uses ranging from medical textiles, fire retardant fibres, geo textiles and fibre reinforcement, this high value segment, is the mainstay of USA and several countries in EU.

Besides the textile ministry's attempts, agencies like the CIDC have tried to promote technical textiles in their fields. The CIDC has tied up with the Michigan state University for development of modern practices in construction.