Civil EngineeringDepartment of

news and figures 2010

Welcome to our department2010 was a great year for our department which was characterized by increasing growth and prosperity. Once again our department was able to assert itself within all of our core areas: research, teaching and collaboration with external partners.

The external funding is the basis for our research activities and I am proud to say that our department succeeded in signing external contracts with a value of almost 34 million DKK in 2010. This will keep us busy in the coming years and will contribute to our sound economic situation.

As a result of the increasing activity, we hired a record number of new employees. We welcomed 30 new staff members where almost half of them were international colleagues and we now have a highly effi cient staff of more than 100 full-time employees. In order to maintain the department’s strength within research and teaching, we are continuously trying to recruit new employees to accommodate the increasing workload and this will be one of the major challenges for 2011.

Our department also experienced the university’s overall increase in student numbers with a record intake in 2010. All in all, we are growing in numbers and, therefore, I am very excited about our future moving plans to our new facilities at the main campus which we will turn our attention to in 2011.

Peter FrigaardHead of the Department

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ColophonTitle: Department of Civil Engineering,news and fi gures 2010

Authors:Helle Schrøder HansenLinda Vabbersgaard PedersenVivi SøndergaardContact: info@civil.aau.dk

Copies:2500

Layout and print: Novagraf A/S, Denmark

Publisher: Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, Denmark

Introduction to our departmentAt the Department of Civil Engineering, we focus on research in areas of civil engineering that concentrate on developing and impacting the building sector in the future. Research and teachings are conducted in areas, which focus on understanding environmental causality and planning people’s physical environment.

The Department of Civil Engineering is a part of the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences at Aalborg University. Our department is divided in three divisions covering the main competence areas: Division of Water & Soil, Division of Architectural Engineering, and Division of Structural Mechanics, respectively. Each division has several research groups which focus on their specific research areas.

The specialist fields of our department are centred on disciplines that form the engineering and scientific basis for the development of building structures and services as well as bridge structures and other civil engineering structures. Other central fields for our department are hydraulic and hydrological problems in relation to environmental plants and projects, physical geography mainly aimed at environmental and resource issues, and geotechnical and flow mechanical problems.

On the following pages, you will learn more about our department and the three divisions and more specifically about our work during 2010 and what we have planned for 2011.

Meet the management

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Head ofdepartmentPeter Frigaardpf@civil.aau.dk +45 9940 8479

Head of divisionStructural MechanicsLars Damkildelda@civil.aau.dk+45 9940 7648

Head of division Water & SoilMorten Lauge Pedersenmlp@civil.aau.dk +45 9940 8477

Head of departmentalsecretariatPernille Bisgaard Pedersenpbp@civil.aau.dk +45 9940 8484

Head oflaboratoriesLars Bo Ibsenlbi@civil.aau.dk +45 9940 8458

Head of divisionArchitectural EngineeringKjeld Svidtks@civil.aau.dk +45 9940 8546

Water and SoilAssociate Professor Morten Lauge PedersenHead of the division of Water & SoilContact: mlp@civil.aau.dk, +45 9940 8477

Morten Lauge Pedersen talks about the progress in his division and what he believes are the most interesting changes within the division in 2010 and what the division has in store for 2011.

What is the main research field in the division of Water & Soil?- We actually work in two research fields. The first is geotechnical and flowmechanical problems in civil engineering (e.g. pipelines, offshore structures, wind turbines and wave energy). The second is hydraulics, hydrology, river morphology and ecology problems in relation to runoff from urban areas, groundwater protection problems and the anthropogenic use of landscape resources. The research is carried out in our respective research groups: Urban Water, Wave Energy and Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations.

What has been the most notable development in your division in 2010?- In 2010, we experienced a lot more attention around renewable energy sources, and that secured external funding for two large projects within wave energy and offshore foundations, respectively. Previously, we had to sell the research ourselves, but now the research is selling itself, and we are experiencing an increased volume in enquires and projects. This has also been the case with radar technology. The external parties are coming to us by themselves, because they know what we work with and what we can do.

What does the division have planned for 2011?- In 2011 we need to consolidate our progress and the start-up of the large external projects, which we secured in 2010, will be implemented and the research topics will be dealt with in depth. - Our overall goal for 2011 is to come up with a strategy so that things can work in a balanced manner together with the development in the renewable energy field. Physical geography and the Coastal Engineering research areas have to be strengthened and new research areas must be cultivated. We have to find a balance between development and research.

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9Architectural EngineeringAssociate Professor Kjeld SvidtHead of the division of Architectural EngineeringContact: ks@civil.aau.dk, +45 9940 8546

Kjeld Svidt talks about the developments, future challenges and the ambitions in his division.

What is the main research field in the division of Architectural Engineering?- Our research focus is optimal building design and we pay special attention to the impacts on the indoor environment and energy consumption. This requires an integration of the architectural design process with the buildings functional systems. We focus on Building Information Modelling and IT systems supporting a close cooperation between key players in all areas of the building process. All the research is carried out in our research groups, Building Informatics and Indoor Environmental Engineering, respectively.

What has been the most notable development in your division in 2010? - Our Strategic Research Centre on Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB) really found its place in 2010, and our division co-hosted the 3rd Nordic Passive House Conference, which focused on sustainable buildings. - We finished the project, Virtual Innovation in Construction, which is centred around models and ICT tools to support user involvement in the design process.

- On the educational side of our working fields, we started a new study programme in building informatics in February 2010.

What does the division have planned for 2011?- We will be doing more research in building components of the future that will support future energy producing buildings. This will include research in dynamic facades of buildings, meaning facades that adapt to a changing environment, and we will also start a project on new window types. - One of our ambitions for 2011 is to solve tasks and contribute actively in connection with the establishment of “Videncenter for Øget Produktivitet og Digitalisering i Byggeriet” (knowledge center for increased productivity and digitalization in construction). We value the tradition of working together with external institutes and companies in research as well as development.

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11Structural MechanicsProfessor Lars DamkildeHead of the division of Structural MechanicsContact: lda@civil.aau.dk, +45 9940 7648

Lars Damkilde talks about the division, the developments, and the most interesting changes within the division in 2010, and what is in store for 2011.

What is the main research field in the division of Structural Mechanics?- Our research area revolves around both theoretical and numerical modeling of structures and structural materials and experimental verification of the structural/material behavior. Our research is carried out in our research groups: Computational Mechanics, Structural Design, Structural Materials and Wind Turbines, respectively.

What has been the most notable development in your division in 2010?- A lot happened in our division this year. We are very proud to have established a new experimental facility for the dynamics of structures. On the research side, we have been working on a number of large, externally funded projects within our traditional research fields. One of the projects focuses on health monitoring, system identification and control of wind turbines. We have also been involved with projects with the aim of establishing a more rational base for design of wind turbines which involving risk and reliability analysis. The projects establish a better statistical basis for wind turbines, wind turbines blades and operation and maintenance all in an attempt to reduce uncertainties and maintenance costs.

- Another exciting thing that took place this year was the IIBCC 2010, a conference in inorganic-bonded fiber composites, which we co-hosted and it was a great success with a record number of participants. So overall, a busy year for us and we are therefore in the process of recruiting more employees in our division.

What does the division have planned for 2011?- One of our goals is to make an effort in the material areas with research, teaching and more staff so we can strengthen our division further. - We are also working on a new organization of teaching activities focusing on more collaboration and an organization based on so-called supervisor teams.

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13Research Event The Research Event is your chance to hear more about current research projects and progresses as mentioned by the heads of division in the previous pages. The Research Event is an annually recurring one-day event at the department, and it is open to everyone. The 2011 Research Event will take place on April 6, 2011. Please register at info@civil.aau.dk. In 2010, the programme for the Research Event at the department included the following presentations:

We want to work with youOur department undertakes contractual research projects for government institutions as well as private companies. We are currently working on more than 100 external projects. A few examples of report topics on behalf of external partners in 2010: testing windows in order to prevent dampness, consequences of tremors along train rails and power performance of wave energy device.

Many experiments are carried out in our laboratories that offer the best equipment along with a knowledgeable staff. While some equipment can be adjusted for an experiment, other equipment can be built specifically for a project or task.

In connection to both student and research projects, we have a lot of experience in collaborations with external partners. We mainly collaborate with companies within the building and construction sector, and we have a firm knowledge of the demands and legislation within this area. Alternatively, an industrial PhD might also be of interest as the research project will have its origin in your company.

Whatever your interest, we invite you to contact the researchers in our department. New projects and co-operations are always welcome, as new thoughts and ideas are best developed through dialogue.

• Simulation of airborne infections. By Peter V. Nielsen• Low Energy and Zero Emission

Buildings – how low can we go? By Tine Steen Larsen• Information Technology in the

future construction industry. By Per Christiansson and Kjeld Svidt• Kinematic Structures. By Poul Henning Kirkegaard• Probabilistic Design of Wind

Turbines. By Henrik Stensgaard Toft• SYStem: Identification, Condition

& Health Monitoring for a New Generation of WIND Turbines.

By Søren R. K. Nielsen

• Floods in the Limfjord. By Torben Larsen• Eco-hydrology in ground water

dependant ecosystems – a cross disciplinary challenge.

By Ole Munch Johansen• Large Scale Testing of Run-Up

Generated Slamming Forces on Wind Turbine Access Platforms.

By Thomas Lykke Andersen• Carbon Trust: Offshore Wind

Accelerator Foundation Competition.

By Lars Bo Ibsen• Structural Design of Wave Energy

Devices. By Jens Peter Kofoed

For further information and presentations from previous years, please visit www.civil.aau.dk/forskning/forskningens_dag.

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15Meet a PhD FellowAnastasia NezhentsevaPhD Fellow Contact: an@civil.aau.dk, +45 9940 8567

Anastasia is one of our PhD students at the department. She is working on her thesis “Composite shell foundations made of high-tension concrete and steel sheets”. Anastasia is going to talk about her academic background, what brought her to Aalborg University, and how working on a PhD is like at the Department of Civil Engineering.

Tell us a little bit about your academic background before coming to AAU?- Well, I have a five-year BSc from Russia in Civil and Industrial Engineering and a two-year MSc from Canada in Geotechnical Engineering.

So why did you choose Aalborg University for your PhD work?- I wanted to move to Europe after finishing my MSc in Canada. I had been to Denmark previously and really liked the country and started investigating my options for a PhD position. That is how I found my current supervisor and contacted him as he was the one closest to my research field interests. From there, I was lucky enough to be able to apply and get a PhD position here at the department.

What can you tell us about working here?- We have very good research facilities here in Denmark and the funding is much better than in e.g. in North America. I really enjoy the personal and somewhat informal environment with both researchers and student. Besides, I think that there is a strong

supervisor and PhD student relationship which creates a higher sense of being a team. I think that there is a great focus on PhD research in general, so I would definitely recommend others to come here and get a PhD degree.

So, what happens after you finish your PhD?- Well, it is still early in my research, but of course I will have to finish my PhD. And perhaps I will look into the possibility of extending my PhD research to a Post Doc position. There are of course many things to consider before making this decision. At present time, Anastasia is one of 34 PhDs at our department and as seen in the box below, we are continuously welcoming new PhDs every year. If you want to learn more about our PhD programme, which also includes industrial PhDs, please visit www.civil.aau.dk/phd_uddannelse/

Finished PhD Students in 2010:- Lasse Gilling, “Airfoils in Turbulent Inflow”- Søren Mikkel Andersen, “Material-point Method for Geotechnical Engineering”- Henrik Stensgaard Toft, “Probabilistic Design of Wind Turbines”

PhD Students 2008 2009 2010

Enrolled 9 10 14

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17Teaching Besides research, one of our other core activities is to deliver teaching mainly to the Study Board of Civil Engineering. A lot of interesting things has happened within this area as well. In 2010, we experienced some administrative changes as the Faculty of Engineering and Science reorganised its educational programme portfolio which entailed the establishment of four schools including the School of Engineering and Science (SES) where we fall under. The SES was established on February 1 in order to maintain and enhance the efficiency and quality in education and to increase the focus on PR and internationalization while creating a robust organization.

Our study programmes within Civil Engineering are of a high quality which was confirmed when 8 programmes within Civil Engineering were accredited with a positive result in 2010. Besides from our research staff, 15 % of the teaching in civil engineering is given by external partners from the private business sector or a public organisation.

In recent years, several new study programmes have been added to our portfolio among these Cand.scient.techn in either Management in the Building Industry or Building Informatics which started in 2010. On that basis, we offer a wide range of choices within civil engineering.

Descriptions of study programmes and courses are available at www.en.ses.aau.dk.

The table shows the number of students who have completed the various study programmes.

Further informationSchool of Engineering and Science - www.en.ses.aau.dk• Henrik Brohus, Head of School of Engineering and Science

(hb@ses.aau.dk or +45 9940 8539)• Gitte Bach, School Secretary (gb@ses.aau.dk or +45 9940 8530)• Helle Kruse Olesen, School Secretary

(hko@ses.aau.dk or +45 9940 7910)

Study Board of Civil Engineering• Christian Frier, Chairman of Study Board for Civil Engineering

(cf@civil.aau.dk or +45 9940 8582)• Ann Cathrine Criddle, Study Board Secretary

(acc@civil.aau.dk or +45 9940 8532)

Graduates at the Study Board of Civil Engineering(Masters and Bachelors of Engineering in Aalborg and Esbjerg)

2007 2008 2009 2010

Structural and Civil Engineering 26 40 28 36

Indoor Environmental Engineering 12 16 5 4

Transportation Engineering 17 9 10 8

Water and Environment 13 3 7 4

Management in the Building Industry 16 8 12 12

Physical Geography 3 2 2 0

Mechanical Engineering (Esbjerg) 10 6 6 7

Cand.scient.techn. in Civil Engineering, new Feb. 2009 15

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192010 HighlightsSpecial eventsNew Esbjerg head of campusAnders Schmidt Kristensen from the Esbjerg department was elected head of campus in Esbjerg as of May 1.

Job satisfaction seminarOn August 18-19, our department went on a job satisfaction seminar where focus was on improving the workplace environment physically and mentally.

New professor Per Heiselberg was given the title as professor.

AwardsZEB awarded with the ALECTIA-Prize 2010Head of centre Per Heiselberg received the ALECTIA Foundations award of 250,000 DKK on behalf of the Strategic Research Centre on Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB). ZEB received the award as an appreciation of their remarkable work to develop new concepts and solutions through a cross-disciplinary approach, and in cooperation with the industry.

Best paper award“Prefab-Interiority: Design Principles for a Sensuous Prefab Practice” by Associate Professor Poul Henning Kirkegaard was selected as the winner of the International Award for Excellence by Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal.

Vestas research awardProfessor Lars Bo Ibsen received a research award from Vestas on the amount of 1,500,000 DKK.

Knight’s Cross to professorProfessor Peter V. Nielsen was awarded with the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Dannebrog on November 3.

Teacher of the yearThe 2010 Teacher of the Year title was given to Assistant Professor Johan Clausen, and Teaching Assistant Professor Jens Hagelskjær was elected for the Esbjerg campus.

Conferences12th International Inorganic-Bonded Fiber Composites Conference (IIBCC)On 21-24 September, the department and Cembrit a/s co-hosted the IIBCC 2010. 190 participants from 24 nations around the world met in Aalborg to learn more about the various technologies as well as to expand their knowledge of the market perspectives while developing business relationships.

3rd Nordic Passive House Conference – Towards 2020 – Sustainable Cities & BuildingOn 7-8 October, the department hosted the 3rd Passiv House Norden Conference together with Aarhus School of Architecture and Passivhus.dk. 370 participants met in Aalborg to share the newest knowledge within the areas of low energy housing and sustainable building, methods, energy & building consultancy services and education.

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21PublicationsIn 2010, our researchers have been the most productive ever. In VBN, Aalborg University’s research database, we registered more than 300 publications in 2010. Below you can see a list of Web of Science indexed journal papers in 2010, and if you are interested in the full list of publications, please go to www.vbn.aau.dk.

2010 Web of Science indexed peer-reviewed journal papers• Bentzen, TR 2010, '3D Modelling of Transport, Deposition and Resuspension

of Highway Deposited Sediments in wet Detention Ponds', Waters Science and Technology, vol 62, no. 3, pp. 736-742.

• Andersen, TL & Burcharth, HF 2010, 'A New Formula for Front Slope Recession of Berm Breakwaters', Coastal Engineering, vol 57, no. 4, pp. 359-374.

• Christensen, CD & Byskov, E 2010, 'An Enhanced Asymptotic Expansion for the Stability of Nonlinear Elastic Structures', Journal of Mechanics of Materials and Structures, vol 5, no. 6, pp. 925–961.

• Ibsen, LB, Barari, A & Kimiaeifar, A 2010, 'Analysis of Highly Nonlinear Oscillation Systems Using He’s Max-Min Method and Comparison with Homotopy Analysis and Energy Balance Methods', Sadhana, vol 35, no. 4, pp. 433–448.

• Andersen, S & Andersen, L 2010, 'Analysis of Spatial Interpolation in the Material-Point Method', Computers & Structures, vol 88, no. 7-8, pp. 506-518.

• Barari, A, Kimiaeifar, A & Domairry, G 2010, 'Analytical Evaluation of Beam Deformation Problem Using Approximate Methods', Songklanakarin Journal of Science and Technology, vol 32, no. 3, pp. 281-288.

• Mirgolbabaei , H, Barari, A, Ibsen, LB & Sfahani, MG 2010, 'Analytical Solution of Forced-Convective Boundary-Layer Flow over a Flat Plate', Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, vol 10, no. 2, pp. 41-51.

• Sfahania, MG, Ganji, SS, Barari, A, Mirgolbabaeia, H & Domairrya, G 2010, 'Analytical Solutions to Nonlinear Conservative Oscillator with Fifth-Order Non-

linearity', Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, vol 9, no. 3, pp. 367-374.

• Abdoul, A, Ghotbi, R, Barari, A, Omidvar, M & Domairry, G 2010, 'Application of Homotopy Perturbation and Variational Iteration Methods to SIR Epidemic Model', Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology, vol 0, no. 1, pp. 1-17.

• Beels, C, Troch, P, Visch, KD, Kofoed, JP & Backer, GD 2010, 'Application of the Time-Dependent Mild-Slope Equations for the Simulation of Wake Effects in the Lee of ar Farm of Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converters', Renewable Energy, vol 35, no. 8, pp. 1644-1661.

• Andersen, L 2010, 'Assessment of Lumped-Parameter Models for Rigid Footings', Computers & Structures, vol 88, no. 23-24, pp. 1333-1347.

• De Backer, G, Vantorre, M, Frigaard, P, Beels, C & De Rouck, J 2010, ‘Bottom Slamming on Heaving Point Absorber Wave Energy Devices’, Journal of Marine Science and Technology, vol 15, nr. 2, pp. 119-130

• Jensen, RL, Städe, LW, Wimmer, R, Stensballe, A, Duroux, M, Larsen, KL, Wingren, C, Duroux, L & Duroux, L 2010, 'Direct site-directed photocoupling of proteins onto surfaces coated with beta-cyclodextrins', Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids, vol 26, no. 13, pp. 11597-604.

• Artmann, N, Jensen, RL, Manz, H & Heiselberg, P 2010, 'Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer during Night-Time Ventilation', Energy and Buildings, vol 42, no. 3, pp. 366-374.

• Hartvig, PA, Thomsen, JM, Frigaard, P & Andersen, TL 2010, 'Experimental Study of the Development of Scour and Backfilling', Coastal Engineering Journal, vol 52, no. 2, pp. 157-194.

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• Fouladi, F, Hosseinzadeh, E, Barari, A & Domairry, G 2010, 'Highly Nonlinear Temperature-Dependent Fin Analysis by Variational Iteration Method', Heat Transfer Research, vol 41, no. 2, pp. 155-165.

• Gorji, M, Mirgolbabaei, H, Barari, A & Domairry, G 2010, 'Numerical Investigation of Heat Transfer Augmentation through Geometrical Optimization of Vortex Generators', Central European Journal of Physics, vol 8, no. 6, pp. 924-930.

• Kimiaeifar, A, Lund, E, Thomsen, OT & Barari, A 2010, 'On Approximate Analytical Solutions of Nonlinear Vibrations of Inextensible Beams using Parameter-Expansion Method', International Journal of Nonlinear Sciences and Numerical Simulation, vol 10, no. 11, pp. 1485-1493.

• Kimiaeifar, A, Lund, E, Thomsen, OT & Barari, A 2010, 'On the Approximate Analytical Solution of Nonlinear Vibrations of Inextensible Beams Using Parameter-Expansion Method', International Journal of Nonlinear Sciences and Numerical Simulation, vol 11, no. 9, pp. 743-753.

• Sørensen, KB, Christiansson, P & Svidt, K 2010, ‘Ontologies to Support RFIDBased Link between Virtual Models and Construction Components’, Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, vol 25, no. 4, pp. 285–302.

• Qian, H, Li, Y, Sun, H, Nielsen, PV, Huang, X & Zheng, X 2010, ‘Particle Removal Efficiency of the Portable HEPA Air Cleaner in a Simulated Hospital Ward’, Building Simulation, vol 3, no. 3, pp. 215-224.

• De Backer, G, Vantorre, M, Beels, C, De Rouck, J & Frigaard, P 2010, ‘Power Absorption by Closely Spaced Point Absorbers in Constrained Conditions’, I E T Renewable Power Generation, vol 4, nr. 6, pp. 579-591

• Bakmar, CL, Houlsby, GT & Byrne, BW 2010, 'Response of Stiff Piles to Long-term Cyclic Loading', Geotechnique, vol 60, no. 2, pp. 79-90.

• Nielsen, PV, Li, Y, Buus, M & Winther, FV 2010, 'Risk of Cross-Infection in a Hospital Ward with Downward Ventilation', Building and Environment, vol 45, no. 9, pp. 2008-2014.

• Dunbar, MJ, Pedersen, ML, Cadman, D, Extence, C, Waddingham, J, Chadd, R & Larsen, SE 2010, 'River Discharge and Local Scale Habitat Influence LIFE Score', Freshwater Biology, vol 55, no. 1, Special Issue, pp. 226–242.

• Pedersen, L & Frier, C 2010, 'Sensitivity of Foorbridge Vibrations to Stochastic Walking Parameters', Journal of Sound and Vibration, vol 329, no. 13, pp. 2683-2701.

• Heiselberg, P & Perino, M 2010, 'Short Term Airing by Natural Ventilation: Implications on IAQ and Thermal Comfort', Indoor Air, vol 20, no. 2, pp. 126-140.

• Zhou, Q, Nielsen, SR & Qu, W 2010, 'Stochastic Response of an Inclined Shallow Cable with Linear Viscous Dampers under Stochastic Excitation', Journal of Engineering Mechanics, vol 136 , no. 11, pp. 1411-1421.

• Friberg, N, Skriver, J, Larsen, SE, Pedersen, ML & Buffagni, A 2010, 'Stream Macroinvertebrate Response to Gradients in Organic Pollution and Eutrophication', Freshwater Biology, vol 55, no. 7, pp. 1405–1419.

• Bayat, M, Shahidi, M, Barari, A & Domairry, G 2010, 'The Approximate Analysis of Nonlinear Behavior of Structure under Harmonic Loading', International Journal of Physical Sciences, vol 5, no. 7, pp. 1074-1080.

• Zanuttigh, B & Andersen, TL 2010, ‘Wave Reflection in 3D Conditions’, Coastal Engineering, vol 57, no. 5, pp. 531-538.

www.civil.aau.dk

ContactDepartment of Civil EngineeringAalborg UniversitySohngaardsholmsvej 57DK-9000 Aalborg

Phone: +45 9940 8484Direct: +45 9940 + local numberFax: +45 9940 8552

e-mail: civil@civil.aau.dkwebsite: www.civil.aau.dk