Imagine concrete that is capable of giving sensibility to material and structure to react to environment changes and with strength similar to steel! But that is where the convergence of new technologies is driving concrete. We will see in near future much thinner concrete sections, lighter but heavy duty buildings and bridges, concrete replacing steel in cable stay bridges. What's more, superior finishes to buildings will double up as protection of concrete from environment. All this can be possible with the innovative use of construction chemical technologies.
The technology of construction chemicals revolves around concrete. Be it improving, repairing or protecting the material. Based on the application, they are further classified as concrete admixtures, grouts, waterproofing, concrete repair products, flooring and corrosion control coatings. With growing acceptance and better understanding of mechanism of concrete applications, the scope is further advanced to construction polymers, fibres, seismic and structural rehabilitation systems and protective measures for maintaining a high level of hygiene.
However, concrete has a major drawback -- its low strength in tension, which causes early cracks. New products and methods now allow Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) with strength exceeding 200 MPa. This is five to six times that of concrete used at present. The lab experiments confirm that concrete can develop even 500 MPa strength, higher than steel. For UHPC, materials like fibres of steel, glass, polypropylene or aramid, very high range water reducers based on poly carboxylic ether, high reactivity silica fumes and biological methods to fill the voids of concrete are being tried out.
The transition from construction cost to lifetime cost for evaluation of new projects has given a big boost to concrete technology in recent years. The technologists moved away from 'high strength concrete' to 'high performance concrete' about two decades ago. The aim was to improve durability and reduce life cycle cost. It is now moving towards 'smart concrete' capable of maintaining 'self-health.' The newly devised construction chemicals, some of them thanks to nano technology, are an essential part of future construction techniques.
The quest does not end there alone. Concrete structures, be it buildings, bridges, roads, railways, factories, all have different performance requirements. The chemicals are already in use to prevent structures from external service environment, so that they get better with time. The modern technology of chemicals allows better life for concrete sleepers due to higher flexural strength and better resistance to weathering. 
The grouts used at curves will change from rigid to semi-rigid due to newly developed PU-Epoxy combinations and will last longer. The ultimate level of silane technology will be used to prevent corrosion of concrete and embedded steel in marine and aggressive environment. The silane technology also keeps stone and concrete facades free from water ingress, staining and prevents damage to heritage structures. 
The chemical technology is also aimed to improve application methods. The world over, concrete placing is now changing over to self-compacting concrete which is highly environment friendly as it is rapid, does not require vibration, reduces external energy requirement, prevents noise pollution and gives unblemished finish. The site batched plaster will be replaced by ready-mix plaster, coming from the factory. For majority of mortar needs, mixing cement and sand at site will become redundant. The pre-bagged mortar will provide better quality of material and less clumsy construction.
The development of fibre wrapping system allows restoration of a structure without pulling it down. The existing structures will be strengthened with this system to increase service load and rehabilitate buildings and bridges with reduced concrete strengths. The structures affected by seismic forces can also be restored using the same technology.
Several construction chemical companies were challenged by the defense industry to develop chemical technologies specific to their use. One such was a high intensity shock absorbent material for guns and spacecraft. Now, these techniques have been allowed for civilian use as well. The immediate advantage is the evolution of hydraulic dampers to minimise the impact of seismic loads. The same technology can be used for retrofitting existing structures.
For long, the chemical flooring systems have been in use in food, pharma, engineering industries and brewery. These floors provide excellent resistance to mechanical and chemical aggression of the flooring. The combination of concrete and polyurethane chemicals has upgraded the performance of these chemicals. 
However, the industrial flooring products were never aimed at providing a high level of aesthetics. But recent developments allow visually attractive chemical floors to have high resistance of industrial floors. This will be a boon to all commercial establishments like shopping malls, multiplexes and multipurpose buildings where aesthetics is paramount. But at the same time resistance to heavy pedestrian movement is a must.
The scope of construction chemicals is enormous, and the list is endless. The confluence of material and structural engineering is leading to smart materials and user-friendly application technologies. The challenge for construction chemical companies is to educate construction fraternity and give them more confidence to adopt new materials.

(The writer is General Manager-Sales and Marketing, Master Builders Technology (MBT) India Pvt. Ltd)