Life-cycle civil engineering is of great significance to society. After a period of industrialization in the past century, with huge developments of all sorts of infrastructure networks and large scale construction projects, society now faces new challenges. Economies have become largely dependent on these civil assets. But society is constantly changing and the existing built environment is getting obsolete. Technically and functionally ageing assets create risks to society. Also the environmental impact of our built environment becomes a major concern. At the same time cultural heritage needs to be preserved. Action is needed to preserve the environment for the next generations. Life-cycle thinking is important for all partners in both construction and maintenance processes. Life-cycle civil engineering is a topic where academics and practitioners need to take steps forward.

We are challenged to develop new services and technologies that help us to deal with today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

IALCCE encompasses all aspects of life-cycle assessment, design, maintenance, rehabilitation and monitoring of civil engineering systems. So far, IALCCE has organized four International Symposia on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering:

• The First International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE2008) was held in Varenna, Lake Como, Italy (June 10-14, 2008),
• the Second International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE2010) was held in Taipei, Taiwan (October 27-30, 2010),
• the Third International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE2012) was held in Vienna, Austria (October 3-6, 2012)
• the Fourth International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE2014) was held in Tokyo, Japan (November 16-19, 2014)

InfraQuest is a collaboration between the Delft University of Technology, TNO (the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research) and Rijkswaterstaat (government agency within the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment). Within InfraQuest, the partners work together on scientific and societal relevant civil engineering topics. Each partner has its important role in the collaboration. This builds a strong connection between fundamental research, applied research and practical experience. InfraQuest works in close cooperation with the Dutch industry and national and international research initiatives, with a focus on the whole life-cycle of the assets.

Typical themes at IALCCE symposia are:

Aging of Structures, Deterioration Modeling, Durable Materials, Earthquake and Accidental Loads, Fatigue and Damage, Marine and Severe Environments, Lifetime Structural Optimization, Long–term Performance Analysis, Performance Based Design, Service Life Prediction, Time–variant Reliability, Uncertainty Modeling, Damage Identification, Field Testing, Health Monitoring, Inspection and Evaluation, Maintenance Strategies, Rehabilitation Techniques, Strengthening and Repair, Life–Cycle Cost Models, Project Management, Risk Analysis and Optimization, Artificial Intelligence Methods, Evolutionary Procedures.

Civil engineering is traditionally focused on construction. New societal needs force us to look in a different way at civil engineering. Civil engineers are now faced with new challenges, like ageing infrastructure and buildings and a strong demand to reduce the impact of  activities related to structures and infrastructures on the environment.

Creating a sustainable society is a challenge relevant to the whole civil engineering sector. This is why the theme of the conference is: Civil engineering from a life-cycle perspective. All delegates are challenged to bring in their solutions to create a sustainable future. The symposium will devote special attention to meet the following four objectives: (a) better control on asset performance over the life-cycle; (b) better value over the life-cycle; (c) in control of asset-related risks; and (d) reducing the environmental impact to society. These four objectives  do not replace the general IALCCE themes. Nevertheless, we would like the participants  to pay attention to the relevance of these objectives. Contributions focusing on at least one of these objectives are particularly welcome.

The proceedings of the symposium will consist of a book of extended abstracts and a DVD with full length papers published by CRC Press/Balkema (Taylor & Francis Group).