The 7th fib Congress, held from 15 to 19 June 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal, brought the week to a close today as one of the most significant gatherings in the field of structural concrete in recent years. Organised by GPBE – the Portuguese Group for Structural Concrete – and hosted primarily at Culturgest, the congress drew experts from around 100 countries under the theme Structural Concrete 2050: Towards Carbon Neutrality, AI Design, and Robotic Construction.
Over four days of sessions, the programme covered the full spectrum of structural concrete challenges: from materials and prefabrication to digitalisation, seismic design, and — of particular relevance to the ACRP community — the assessment, maintenance, protection, repair, and strengthening of existing concrete structures
Repair and Existing Structures Well Represented
Among the eight keynote lectures, Carmen Andrade Perdrix (International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering, CIMNE) addressed the impact of rainfall on concrete water retention and reinforcement corrosion rates — a topic central to durability and service life assessment. Ann Harrer (Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates) presented on conservation approaches and repair implementation in heritage concrete, bringing a perspective directly aligned with the challenges facing the repair and protection sector.
The congress’s thematic scope included an entire topic dedicated to existing concrete structures, encompassing assessment, maintenance, protection and repair, strengthening, seismic retrofitting, and structural health monitoring. A number of special sessions further developed these themes, including sessions on repair of concrete infrastructures using high-performance materials, strengthening and seismic retrofitting with innovative systems, advances in NDT and assessment of ageing concrete bridges, and climate change adaptation of concrete structures.
The Momentum Continues: ACRP European Conference 2026 in Stockholm
The themes debated in Lisbon this week connect naturally with ACRP’s own agenda for the months ahead. On 25 and 26 November 2026, ACRP will hold its European Conference 2026 — Saving Structures — in Stockholm, Sweden, in collaboration with national member association REBET.
The Stockholm conference will bring together professionals from across Europe for two days of technical sessions, networking, and a site visit to the renovation of a historic dam on the Stockholm waterways. The programme includes presentations on underwater inspection, cathodic protection for existing reinforced structures, and case studies on retrofitting singular bridges and port infrastructure.
The event will take place at the Grand Hôtel Stockholm. Registration is open for members, partners, and other participants, and sponsorship opportunities are available. Further details and registration can be found on the ACRP European Conference 2026 page.