Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas (CEDEX), Centre of Studies and Experimentation in Public Works in English, was created in 1957 as an autonomous organisation that at present reports to the Ministry of Public Works and functionally to the Ministries of Public Works, and Agriculture and Environment of Spain, in the sphere of their respective competences.
CEDEX is an institution that provides multidisciplinary support in civil engineering technologies, construction and associated environment, giving assistance to various administrations, public institutions and private companies. Its specialised technical units, Centres and Laboratories, some of which have been active for more than 100 years, provide high-level technical assistance, applied research and technological development in the areas characteristic of the civil engineering sector: harbours and coasts, hydraulics of continental waters, roads, structures and materials, geotechnics, techniques applied to the civil engineering and environment and historic studies of the public works. These units devote about 70% of their resources to high-level technical assistance and the remaining 30% to applied research and development, technological transfer and other actions on technical and scientific information.
Its wide range of activities includes: • Acquisition, analysis, treatment and application of basic data. • Scale physical models and numerical simulation. • Studies and research in its own installations and with prototypes. • Quality control in public works. • Support to the planning and implementation of the Departments own basic standards. • Environmental studies. • Auscultation of works, elements and systems. • Scientific and technological information and documentation. • Organisation of postgraduate courses, seminars and other educational activities.
The specialisation of the human team, the singularity of some of its installations, the variety of civil engineering and environmental matters undertaken and the growing cooperation with similar overseas institutions make CEDEX an avant-garde international organisation able to apply the latest innovations to solve the numerous problems present nowadays in the ambits of its specialisation, specifically where civil engineering needs to be combined with the inherent environmental aspects, with a view to a sustainable development.
Key personnel
Ms. Laura Parra (female)
Ms. Laura Parra is a Civil Engineer graduated in the ETSICCP of Santander. She has worked for CEDEX since 2005. She started in the field of earthworks and geotechnics. From 2009 to 2010, she worked in the transport management and planning area as project manager. Since 2010, she works in pavement surface characteristics division, where she is research coordinator. Also she is taking part in research programmes and projects dealing with road materials and environmental impact (wastes and secondary materials and LCA). She is a member in several normalization committees, both at national and international level (CEN TC 227 WG 5, ISO TC43 SC1 WG 33, AEN/CTN41/SC2/GT5 and AEN/CTN198).
Mr Marco Perelli (male)
Mr Marco Perelli graduated from Polytechnic University of Madrid in Civil Engineering. (specialization: Foundations and Structures). He has worked for CEDEX since 1995. From 1995 to 2016, he has been working in Traffic and Road Safety in many fields as tunnel equipment, tunnel accident and incident studies, road safety barriers and other vehicle restraint systems and road blackspot studies. Currently, he is also working in environmental impact in construction (Life Cycle Assessment-LCA and Life Cycle Costing-LCC) as scientific technical program coordinator. He is also member in several national normalization committees (AEN/CTN135/SC1 and AEN/CTN198).
