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"Here's a material that no longer resembles concrete", says Mr Dennewald, Chairman and Managing Director of Eurobéton, with a smile. "Its properties are close to those of steel and a poor aluminium alloy", he continues in a challenging tone. And yet, all the characteristics of this new material bear out this high technical performance, which is totally novel. Its flexural strength is 10 times greater than that of conventional concrete. Its measured density is close to the theoretical density of the material, leaving practically no air space. It benefits from "self-healing" properties and excellent resistance to abrasion. "We've progressed from a 70 mm thick pipe weighing 220 kg/m to one measuring 24 mm and weighing 62 kg/m", observes Mr Dennewald. These technological innovations have enabled the walls of the pipes to be made thinner and, in addition, eliminated the need for maintenance, made transport action more economical, reduced the use of natural resources and, indirectly, improved the flow. "We called this project 'Tetris' from the name of the game on Game Boy, which consists in linking geometrical shapes to form the most compact structure possible. That's exactly what we're doing: it's the technology for making perfect structures."
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