Concrete research at Ghent University

Labo Magnel was established as a concrete research laboratory on the initiative of Professor Magnel. He carried out pioneering work on prestressed concrete and calculation methods for concrete structures and is still internationally recognised for his work today. As an engineer, Magnel was involved in many high-profile reinforced and prestressed concrete structures, including the Basilica of Koekelberg, the Book Tower and a very large factory hall for Union Cotonnière in Ghent, as well as the first prestressed concrete bridge in the United States, in Philadelphia.

In 1926, he founded the “Laboratory for Reinforced Concrete” with the aim of responding to the urgent need at the time for scientifically based concrete research. From 1930 onwards, the laboratory was affiliated with Ghent University and in those pioneering years it slowly grew into a versatile research centre. From 1937 onwards, experiments were carried out in his laboratory in the field of the then new technique of “prestressed concrete”. He developed his own system for achieving prestressing, the “Blaton-Magnel” system, which was used in various countries.

His textbooks on “Calculation of Reinforced Concrete” and “Stability of Structures” are standard works in these sciences. His last book, “Le Béton Précontraint”, was published in several languages, including French, English, Spanish and Russian.

Since 4 February 2020, Labo Magnel has been merged with the Laboratory for Model Research, the Schoonmeersen group and the CFFS (Combustion, Fire and Fire Safety) group.

More information: https://www.ugent.be/ea/structural-engineering/en/research