Honorary Member since 2001

Dr. Rupert Springenschmid was inducted into honorary membership in ISCP in September, 2001 in recognition of his many accomplishments and contributions to concrete technology (especially in pavements) over the last 50 years. He has been doing research and consulting in the broad field of concrete technology (including pavements, tunnel foundations, etc.), and his particular interests include site problems (such as cracking, frost and deicing chemical damage, water penetration into concrete surfaces and cement-bound bases, and various thermal problems), as described below.

Rupert Springenschmid was born in 1929 in Salzburg, Austria. He studied civil engineering at the Technical University of Vienna, graduating in 1955. He then pursued graduate studies in soil mechanics and soil stabilization at Princeton University (USA) in 1955-1956.

Upon returning to Austria in 1956, he worked for two years in the “research and development division” of a leading Austrian road construction contractor, where his accomplishments included work on the first soil-cement pavement bases built in Austria and the translation (from English to German) of the PCA soil-cement laboratory handbook. He also completed his doctoral dissertation on soil-cement at the Technical University of Vienna.

From 1958 – 1962, Dr. Springenschmid was a Research Assistant at the German Cement Research Institute in Düsseldorf where he continued his work with soil-cement and began to work with concrete pavements. He joined the Research Institute of the Austrian Cement Institute in Vienna in 1962 and was named director of the Institute from 1967 until he left in 1973. In this position, he was largely responsible for introducing modern concrete technology in construction specifications and construction practice in Austria, including the use of air-entrained concrete and short slabs without expansion joints, etc. He also developed a “cracking frame” test to identify concrete mixtures that might be susceptible to cracking in the absence of expansion joints, and was also involved with research to develop pavements with high resistance to damage caused by studded tires and snow chains.

Although Dr. Springenschmid was closely involved in applied research and development activities, he has also compiled an impressive academic career. He was a lecturer at the Technical University Leoben, in Austria from 1968 – 1973, and a Professor for construction materials at the esteemed Technical University Munich for 25 years from 1973 to 1998.

Rupert has also rendered a great deal of service to the concrete paving profession over the years, including serving as President of the PIARC International Committee on Concrete Roads from 1970 – 1978, and President of the RILEM Committee on Thermal Cracking of Concrete at Early Ages. He has received many honors and awards, including an honorary doctoral degree (“doctor honoris causa”) from the Bauhaus University Weimar in Germany and (most recently) his induction as an ISCP honorary member in September, 2001.

Dr. Springenschmid “retired” in 1998, but he still performs consulting work and he recently completed a 600-page book entitled “Concrete Technology in Practice” (published in 2007 by Bauwerk Verlag in Berlin). He also makes more time for his family (including his wife and 5 children) and his hobbies, which include skiing, mountaineering and music!

ISCP is proud to have Dr. Rupert Springenschmid as an Honorary Member!

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