Building on a successful relationship that has grown over the years, US-headquartered pioneer in cement and concrete technology Grace Construction Products is seeking to strengthen the partnership it shares with Conmix and together serve the rapidly-growing market of the UAE through innovative products and solutions.

Grace has been active in the Middle East construction market for as long as Conmix and both have been working towards enhancing and improving the quality, performance and technological understanding of concrete within the industry which they serve, says a spokesman for Emirates Chemicals, its Dubai-based affiliate.
Emirates Chemicals, which has been actively promoting Grace’s range of chemical admixtures and additives in the region, has been supplying Conmix with the company’s diverse range of products for over two-and-half decades.
“Working closely with Conmix and our clients, Grace Construction Products has been able to anticipate and adapt to market trends both in terms of technology and productivity,” the spokesman says.
Grace has a global stature and is rated among the top companies in developing and marketing products that enhance the durability, strength and the appearance of concrete. The company’s Specialty Construction Chemicals Business Unit is the leading provider of specialty chemical/material products and services for cement and concrete producers, which deliver value through an integrated package of products and services that lowers the material and operational costs.
“This not only makes the products more competitive in the market, but also increases the value of cement and concrete products that our customers produce by improving upon its physical and aesthetic properties,” he adds.
For more than 70 years, Grace has focused on developing a family of value-added chemical admixtures, synthetic fibres and surface treatments to meet the specific needs of the ready-mix, precast/prestressed, concrete block and paver producers.
Grace’s innovative research and development is supported by highly-trained and experienced sales personnel, field technical service and laboratory teams who focus on providing superior support for customers. The company is renowned for major contributions to professional and industry associations such as ASTM, ACI, NRMCA, NCMA, PCI, NPCA and ICPI, the spokesman says.
He continues: “When it comes to technology, Grace has always taken the lead and has been regarded as one of the pioneers in cement and concrete technology. Concrete admixtures have been used to reduce the applied cost of concrete, besides improving the lifecycle of the structure. Solutions from Grace not only do that but also add strength, durability and chloride resistance to concrete and offer improved workability, ease of placement, strength, and finishing characteristics of the concrete. This apart, Grace’s line of products for architectural concrete has been specially designed to enhance the beauty and appearance of concrete.”
Since the launch of the first liquid water-reducing admixture in the mid-1950s, Grace has continued to make breakthroughs with its proprietary water-reduction technologies, developing products such as Adva Superplasticizer and Mira mid-range water reducer, producing stronger concrete which can be placed faster and finished better.
In addition, the company’s commitment to innovation also includes the development of corrosion inhibitors such as DCI-S – an admixture that fights the corrosive action of chlorides on reinforcing steel and pre-stressed strands in concrete exposed to road salts and seawater.
Grace’s Eclipse family of shrinkage-reducing admixtures have been developed for use in concrete members or structures where drying shrinkage results in cracking or pre-stress losses and are specifically designed to protect high-value flooring – such as indoor slab-on-grade concrete construction – from damage and cracking.
The company’s most recent innovation in concrete technology includes Strux synthetic structural fibre reinforcement and its system for self-compacting concrete.
Strux is a line of synthetic structural fibre reinforcement for concrete that imparts enhanced toughness, impact and fatigue resistance, and controls plastic shrinkage cracking in a variety of readymix, precast and shotcrete applications including flooring, slabs on grade, bridge decks, tunnel linings and pools.
Strux 90/40 Fibre Reinforcement for flooring is the latest addition to its growing line of high-performance synthetic structural fibres. Designed to replace welded wire fabric, light rebar and steel fibres in flooring applications for both commercial and residential structures, the material is specifically engineered to control cracking due to plastic shrinkage.
Grace’s system for Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) is a state-of-the-art approach to the production of highly-flowable, self-levelling concrete that can be placed without vibration equipment and without segregation, the spokesman adds. Backed by Grace’s proprietary mix design software, worldwide technical support and local service, this system includes specialised admixtures for SCC such as the Adva line of polycarboxylate superplasticisers. These materials can produce concrete with a 20 to 28-inch slump flow and without segregation.
The company’s V-Mar is a concrete rheology-modifying admixture that is described as being ideal for flexible mix design for challenging applications, the spokesman concludes.