A pioneering approach to climate-proofing infrastructure has won a unique national award for its solution to the global water crisis.
With half the world's population expected to face water shortages by 2050, according to the UN World Water Development Report, Concrete Canvas is answering the problem with a critical infrastructure innovation, which has now been recognised with the Engineering Better Lives award from the Royal Academy of Engineering, a special presentation to mark the Academy’s 50th anniversary.
Concrete Canvas, co-founded in Pontyclun, South Wales, by engineers Will Crawford MBE and Peter Brewin MBE, has developed a novel innovation that is changing the way critical water infrastructure is built and repaired around the world. CCX®, the latest generation of their flexible concrete composite supplied on a roll, was developed through 14 years of research and is now being used by governments, NGOs, and engineering giants to restore global waterways devastated by the impacts of climate change.
Judges for the Engineering Better Lives Award, a unique prize created to mark the Academy’s 50th anniversary this year, recognised Concrete Canvas for its revolutionary approach to critical climate infrastructure. The cement-loaded composite mats are rolled out in situ, sprayed with water and set hard within 24 hours. This low cost, durable innovation can be installed ten times faster than traditional concrete with 60% lower carbon emissions.
Over the last two decades, Concrete Canvas has built a network of over 60 partners in six countries. It is the centrepiece of several key UK trade contracts, including with the Kyrgyzstan Government – for which it has agreed a regeneration plan covering 525,000km of water channels. The company is currently building its first production plant outside the UK in the Chuy region of northern Kyrgyzstan.
Concrete Canvas founders Peter Brewin and Will Crawford will be presented with the award at the Royal Academy of Engineering’s annual Awards Dinner on 8 July at Raffles London at the OWO – where the MacRobert Award winner, The Princess Royal Silver Medal recipients, and other awards will also be announced.
Luke Logan FREng, Chair of The Royal Academy of Engineering Awards Committee, said: “Our Engineering Better Lives Award was created to celebrate previous Academy awardees who show exceptional potential to deliver future societal benefits. No candidate fit this description better than Concrete Canvas, which is offering a pioneering solution to the global water crisis. Their work powerfully reflects the strategic aims of the Academy, and embodies our purpose in harnessing the power of engineering to deliver real-world benefits.”
Engineering Better Lives Award winners Peter Brewin MBE and Will Crawford MBE
Peter Brewin MBE, Director and Co-Founder of Concrete Canvas, said: “Twelve years on from our Silver Medal award, we are honoured to be accepting this special 50th anniversary prize from The Royal Academy of Engineering. Since 2014, we’ve developed our technology to the point where it can be installed up to ten times faster and at a lower cost than traditional concrete, with reduced carbon impact.
“We’re especially proud to have launched CCX in this time, which is used for the rapid rehabilitation and construction of canal systems to use water resources more efficiently. It’s estimated that about a third of water transported along canals is lost through the lining – our product helps to reduce that seepage. The results of climate change are devastating global waterways, and we are proud to be setting a path to regeneration through clean water transport.
Will Crawford MBE, Director and Co-Founder of Concrete Canvas, said: “Our concrete on a roll is incredibly versatile as a building material. As well as playing a vital role in sustainable water transport, it’s also a go-to material for some of the world’s most innovative architects, used in imaginative projects from shopping centres and schools to a novel design for temporary housing by Sir Norman Foster.”
Notes for editors
The Royal Academy of Engineering creates and leads a community of outstanding experts and innovators to engineer better lives. As a charity and a Fellowship, we deliver public benefit from excellence in engineering and technology and convene leading businesspeople, entrepreneurs, innovators and academics across engineering and technology. As a National Academy, we provide leadership for engineering and technology, and independent, expert advice to policymakers in the UK and beyond. Our work is enabled by funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, corporate and university partners, charitable trusts and foundations, and individual donors.