Skip to main content

Affordable housing – a pipedream, or a future reality?

According to Habitat for Humanity’s 2015 Housing Review1, the cost of housing places a heavy burden on over 10% of European households.  Of this 10%, more than 39% of families are also at risk of poverty. This is further backed by Eurostat figures which note that nearly 10% of EU citizens live in severe “material deprivation” – in new Member States this figure is almost double (18.6%). And it seems that the situation is not improving.

Concrete Dialogue 2016: Responsible solutions to Europe’s housing challenges

There is a growing need for more affordable, energy efficient, comfortable housing, especially in our cities. We need innovative new collaborations from key players with scalable responses to these pressing challenges. This event provided a shared space for a range of stakeholders to consider what more the construction sector can do to help deliver solutions.

Marmaray Railway Tunnel

  • Case Image:
  • Key Facts:
    • Country: Turkey
    • Concrete: Appr.1.000.000 m3 (Mostly DURABET® C40)
    • Cement Type: OYAK Bolu Cement- CEM I 42.5 N (SR-Low Alkali)
The Marmaray Project consists of a suburban rail system that establishes a connection between Istanbul Halkalı and Gebze. The project interconnects the city’s European and Asian Sides by a 1387 meter long railway tunnel constructed under the Bosphorus strait. The overall length of the rail system is 76 km. The Bosphorus will be crossed by an immersed tube, assembled from 11 sections with lengths varying between 98,5 and 138 meters. With a depth of 56 meters, these tube sections will comprise the world's deepest undersea immersed tube tunnel, earthquake-proof against magnitudes of 10.