Concrete Repair Association Awards 2024

We were delighted to gather together at the Concrete Repair Association Awards 2024 to celebrate excellence in the concrete repair industry at our annual awards ceremony, held at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester on 11 October. The event highlighted the achievements of exceptional projects, organisations, and individuals, also raising £2,170 for charity Asthma + Lung UK. With outgoing chair Jonathan Thurlbeck hosting the festivities and the return of Bandaoke to round the night off, it was a great way to highlight the achievements of our members.

Outstanding Projects

Taking the accolade of CRA Large Project of the Year (over £1m) were Cemplas and Mapei with architects RH Partnerships for Saltdean Lido, East Sussex. This stunning restoration project brought a derelict Grade II listed structure back to life, retaining and repairing as much of the existing building fabric as possible. New and sustainable concrete repair technologies to reduce future maintenance and extend the building’s lifecycle included corrosion inhibitors and modern protective coatings suitable for the harsh marine climate.

Balvac’s M6 Peover Eye bridge repair project in Cheshire, which used material from Flexcrete and Weber, supplied by Resapol, and sprayed concrete services from Gunform, was Highly Commended for its innovative approach to overcoming access challenges.

The winner of the CRA Small Project of the Year (under £1m) award was Mackenzie Construction for Souters Wood Treated Water Storage Point in Selkirk, Scottish Borders. The project, which benefitted from product training from manufacturer Fosroc,  involved roof slab repairs, installation of new external drainage, and internal repairs to extend the asset’s service life by 20 years. Delivered on time, on budget and beyond the client Scottish Water’s expectations regarding carbon savings, the project has allowed Mackenzie Construction to develop and extend its Net Zero approach.

Emerging Talent and Innovation

The CRA Emerging Talent Award rewarded trainee engineer Jay Stewart from Mackenzie Construction’s structural repair division. After leaving school and qualifying as a welder and fabricator, Jay joined Mackenzie in 2022 and quickly stood out for his maturity and dedication. The judges were impressed by Jay’s outstanding work ethic, positivity, people skills with colleagues and clients and willingness to absorb responsibility. Jay receives a £1000 prize and a year’s free CRA membership for his employer.

The CRA Chair’s Innovation Award went to Segcorr Ltd for its Fundamentals of Design for Cathodic Steel in Concrete course. This foundation course provides teaching and support for the global community. It extends the reach of the CPA, enabling individuals to learn about the design and use of cathodic protection for steel in concrete, using the internationally recognised concrete repair and cathodic protection standards.

CPA and SCA Awards

For the second year, the CRA event included project categories for sister organisations within the Structural Concrete Alliance, the Corrosion Prevention Association (CPA) and the Sprayed Concrete Association (SCA).

The CPA’s Project of the Year was Balvac for the M6 Peover Eye, Cheshire, a bridge project which was critical to the local town. It combined phased concrete repairs to bridge piers and supporting columns and the installation of an impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system designed by Mott MacDonald for client National Highways to prevent further deterioration and restore the structure to full load-carrying capacity.  Concrete Repairs Limited was Highly Commended for the M6 River Dane bridge refurbishment project, thanks to its innovative approach.

Shotcrete Services was the winner of the SCA Project of the Year Award for Machynlleth Railway Bridge in Powys, Wales. This challenging sprayed concrete contract used Natural Cement’s Natcem 430 with fibres and non-fibred Weber Spraycrete 40. It used unique solutions and methods and complex 24-hour-working project delivery. The client was impressed by Shotcrete’s highly trained teams’ quality of work and health and safety values.

Kevin Coulman Lifetime Contribution Award

Steve Davies, managing director of specialist contractor BetonBauen and the incoming CRA Vice Chair, received the Kevin Coulman Award for services to the concrete repair industry, making him the 22nd recipient since its inception. On receiving his award, Steve said: “I was not expecting that! I’m absolutely delighted to receive the Kevin Coulman Award, a huge thank you to the CRA! I look forward to the role as Vice Chairman and working closely with the Executive Committee.”

We finished off the night in fine voice with some spectacular Bandaoke performance from our members, who made the most of the live band!

The CRA’s 2024 judging panel included Jonathan Thurlbeck of Remmers, Keith Barrow of KJB Consultancy, Trevor Box of Birmingham City Laboratories and Christian Stone of Conservation Preservation Technologies.

For more CRA and Alliance events, keep an eye on our Events page. For information on becoming a member, please take a look at our membership process.