Position:

Email: 

Office: 

Qualifications:

  • PhD (UCT)
  • MSc (UCT)
  • Dipl.-Ing. (HAW, Germany)

Professional Affiliations: 

  • RILEM (International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures);  Vice-President
  • fib (International Federation for Structural Concrete); Head of the national member group South Africa (2013-2024)
  • Concrete Society of Southern Africa (CSSA)
  • Editor of the technical journal Concrete Plant International

Undergraduate Teaching: 

  • CIV1006S (Building Science)
  • CIV1008F (Engineering 1)
  • CIV2042F (Construction Materials)
  • CIV4045F (Structural Design II)

Postgraduate Teaching: 

  • CIV5138Z (Advanced Concrete Technology and Service Life Design)
  • CIV5139Z (Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete Structures)

Research Affiliations: 

Honours & Distinctions:

  • Fellow of RILEM
  • B2 Rating of the National Research Foundation (NRF)
  • Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (MASSAf)

Publication Profile: 

Research Interests:

  • Durability of reinforced concrete structures, material aspects and durability testing, service life modelling, design and specification, reinforcement corrosion initiation and propagation
  • Performance assessment of concrete structures
  • Repair systems for concrete structures damaged by reinforcement corrosion
  • Bonded concrete overlaysand patch repairs, bond strength issues, stresses due to differential volume changes, specification and performance of overlays and patch repair systems
  • Innovative concrete materials, sustainable concrete technology, low carbon and alternative cementitious binders, recycled aggregate concrete

Biographical Summary:

Hans Beushausen studied civil engineering at the University of Applied Science in Hamburg, Germany (Dipl.-Ing. HAW Hamburg, 1999) and South Africa (MSc Structural Engineering, 2001) and completed his PhD at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2005, working in the fields of repair and rehabilitation of concrete structures. In subsequent years, he broadened his scope of research and teaching from general fields related to structural and materials engineering into service life prediction and performance-based design of concrete structures, steel reinforcement corrosion and sustainable concrete technology with a focus on low carbon cementitious binders and recycled aggregate concrete.  

Professor Hans Beushausen started his academic employment at UCT as a part of the Structural Engineering Division in 2008 and has since then supervised 90 postgraduate students (PhD, MSc, MEng) in their research and has developed and taught in several undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the Department of Civil Engineering, with his teaching efforts focussing on the fields of construction materials, structural analysis, and design of reinforced concrete structures.  

Professor Beushausen has contributed to over 220 publications in the general fields of concrete material technology, concrete durability and repair of concrete structures. His research on condition assessment and repair of concrete structures has found significant application in engineering practice in South Africa, with structural engineers now focussing on specifying durable and crack-resistant repairs rather than high strength mortars that have been found to offer limited value. This performance-based approach to design and repair of concrete structures is  now increasingly applied in the management of civil infrastructure in South Africa. The Durability Index approach, which Prof Beushausen helped to refine for widespread industry application, is considered state-of-the-art amongst worldwide performance-based methods for specification and quality control of concrete structures. Professor Beushausen chaired an international expert committee on performance-based specifications and control of concrete durability (RILEM Technical Committee TC 230-PSC), with the knowledge developed by this committee now considered as the foundation for performance-based durability design of concrete structures worldwide. Professor Beushausen has a large and active international network and collaborates with leading researchers from all over the globe, which entails international research partnerships and educational activities. In 2005, he organized the first International Conference on Concrete Repair, Rehabilitation and Retrofitting, ICCRRR, which has run at UCT on a regular 3-yearly basis since and which is now considered the leading international conference in the field of concrete repair.  

He is a Director of the Concrete Materials and Structural Integrity Research Unit and Convenor of the postgraduate programme on Civil Infrastructure Management and Maintenance at the University of Cape Town and a member of several scientific and professional associations. From 2021 – 2024 he was the Deputy-Dean for Research and Strategic Innovation and International Partnerships in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at UCT. He chaired the RILEM Development Activities Committee from 2020 to 2024 and was Head of the South African National Delegation of fib from 2014 to 2024. He is currently the Vice-President of RILEM and the Liaison Member representing the Concrete Society of Southern Africa on ACI Committee 364-Rehabilitation.