Background

The previous CONSEC conferences were held in Sapporo, Japan (1995); Tromsø, Norway (1998); Vancouver, Canada (2001), Seoul, South Korea (2004), and Tours, France (2007). These meetings served as effective forums for exchange of information on material and structural performance under extreme environment and loading, surveys of existing structures, innovative developments in high performance, sustainable and other specialized concretes, durability mechanisms, modeling and life cycle analysis, pioneering repair, retrofit and strengthening techniques using novel materials, and  noteworthy design concepts and code activities. Each of these highly successful conferences attracted more than 300 participants from over 35 countries, and fully peer-reviewed papers were published in a series of Proceedings with significant archival value

The 6th International Conference on Concrete under Severe Conditions ̶ Environment and Loading (CONSEC’10) will be held in Mérida, Yucatán, México, June 7-9, 2010. This is a befitting venue as southeast Mexico and the ancient Mayan ceremonial sites have been subjected to powerful hurricanes as well as other severe conditions of the environment and loading since the inception of the Mayan culture.  Nevertheless, these historical sites have endured and are now excellent examples of durable structures with outstanding long- term performance. The Chichen Itza pyramid in northern Yucatan was recently nominated as one of the new seven wonders of construction.