6 - Vicat

11RESEARCH ANDDEVELOPMENT,PATENTS ANDLICENSESThe Group’s research resources for product design,development and quality control are centralisedat L’Isle-d’Abeau, close to Lyon, in the Louis VicatTechnical Centre (CTLV). Organised around threeskill domains—hydraulic binders, concrete aggregatesand construction chemistry—the CTLV has adedicated team of approximately fifty researchersand technicians equipped with modern equipment.Partnerships have also been established with researchcentres or engineering schools, such as theInstitut Polytechnique in Grenoble (INPG) or majorindustrial groups.Research and development activities have mainlyaimed at anticipating or responding to requests fromthe Group’s customers regarding products that areeasier to use or enabling them to devise innovativetechnical solutions overcoming the constraints meton their building sites. The products developed inrecent years in the Group’s laboratories are : Polycim,a special binder for masonry, Vicalpes, a rapid-settingbinder developing high initial strength for workswhich must be brought into service very quicklyand finally BCV (Vicat Composite Concrete), a fibre-boundultra high performance concrete, whichmakes it possible to produce structural elementswithout reinforcements.More recently, new research lines have appeared.They relate to the development of new clinkersand new cements which, with equivalent mechanicalproperties, are expected to lead to reduce CO 2emissions. This issue, fundamental for the future ofthe industry and which fits into the Group’s objectiveof participating in the collective effort in favourof the environment, mobilises significant manpower92 VICAT - 2009 registration document