In the northern Vietnamese city of Haiphong, the Lach Huyen port project is currently under construction. Engineers are making progress on construction operations with efficient and organized efforts, while large equipment are being utilized to transport building materials to various construction sites. The reinforcement used in this project are not traditional steel rebars, but fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rebars provided by Jiangsu Chemlead New Material Co Ltd., a project partner of NEXCEL. 

 

 

Prof. XUE Weichen from Tongji University, Changjiang Scholar and member of NEXCEL Technical Advisory Committee, said: "The issue that needs to be addressed in marine engineering is insufficient structural safety and durability caused by the corrosion of steel rebars. By using FRP rebars with lightweight, high-strength and corrosion-resistant to replace steel rebars, the durability of concrete structures can be significantly improved in the marine environment, to have a design life of not less than 50 years without maintenance and achieve energy saving and low carbon in the whole life cycle.” 

 

 

The Technical Manager of Jiangsu Chemlead New Material Co Ltd. said: "The Lach Huyen port is the largest and most developed container port in Vietnam. To resolve the problem that the port pavement and bridge deck are easy to be corroded by seawater in the marine environment for a long time, FRP rebars are designed for the pavement and bridge, and six different sizes of FRP longitudinal bars and stirrups are used in this project. At present, the project is still under construction, and 240 tons of FRP rebars have been used. The project is expected to be completed in June 2025." 

 

Strong Partnerships for Boosting BRI

This advanced FRP rebar is an innovative achievement from NEXCEL, which is jointly established by Saudi Aramco, together with China National Building Material Group (CNBM) and China Building Materials Academy (CBMA). NEXCEL is committed to accelerating nonmetallic technology deployment in the building and construction sector and deploying innovative nonmetallic technologies to provide more sustainable construction solutions. 

Since the establishment of NEXCEL two and a half years ago, it has funded more than 50 research projects. With the development of new materials and technologies, new standards and regulations, and the engineering demonstrations of buildings and bridges, these achievements have brought real benefits to Belt and Road countries, making the vision of high-quality cooperation into a reality.