How do you test the detachability of structures in civil engineering?

We are well on our way to a circular construction and infrastructure sector. From 2030 onward, all government tendering will be circular. The detachability of structures is an important key to enabling high-quality reuse with no loss of value.

To stimulate this development and to arrive at more modular designs, Witteveen+Bos has developed a measurement method that can be used to test the degree of detachability of civil engineering structures. The tool has been expanded under assignment to the Circular Construction Economy Transition Team. The method tests how products are connected to each other, how accessible those connections are, how products are built up in a structure and whether products intersect.

We focus on the lifespan of all the products and how often the products are used in the design. Finally, the measurement method tests how the structure is connected to the surrounding network (an essential aspect in civil engineering!). In this way, the measurement method helps to identify detachable parts in the design process and to make improvements that can optimise the design. The measurement method with the accompanying tool will become available during the Week of the Circular Economy (6 to 11 February 2023).