Letter from the director

Abstract

At the proposal of the previous director of the journal Gonzalo Ruiz, the Council of the Association of Structural Engineering ACHE appointed me as new director of Hormigón y Acero journal at its meeting at the end of April 2025.

I take on this challenge with enthusiasm to continue the excellent work carried out by the Editorial Board chaired by the last two directors, Luis Ortega Basagoiti and Gonzalo Ruiz.

ACHE's Hormigón y Acero journal will publish articles in English or Spanish on structures, including research, studies and projects on building and civil works. Topics will cover the design, construction, maintenance, repair, strengthening and demolition of structures. The publication will combine ordinary issues with monographic ones.

In the coming months, a monographic issue on the renovation of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium of the Real Madrid football club and another in honour of professors Hugo Corres and Toni Marí are expected to be published. Work is also being done on the preparation of a monographic issue on explosive actions in structures and another one dedicated to Jörg Schlaich.

Likewise, the publication of articles derived from the numerous and relevant papers presented at the ACHE congress, held in Granada at the end of June, will be encouraged. The abstracts of these presentations have been published by Hormigón y Acero in June 2025.

For all this work, I will have the support of the Editorial Committee for the day-to-day work that will collaborate with the Editor-in-Chief. I also have the support of the Editorial Board that will be renewed after the summer and that will address strategic subjects for the journal such as the achievement of quality articles to be published, the dissemination and internationalization of the journal and the improvement of its impact factors, among others. Later, the role of the journal's Scientific Advisory Board will also be analysed and strengthened.

This ordinary issue No. 306 of the journal, corresponding to the period May-August 2025, includes nine articles, five in English and four in Spanish. The first one is dealing with the demolition of the damaged deck of a bridge and its replacement with a new one in a high-density traffic road junction near the city of Madrid. The other eight articles cover studies on bridges and structures.

Finally, I am inviting authors of future articles on structures to consider Hormigón y Acero journal as an appropriate one for their publications, either in English or in Spanish, being the web  www.hormigonyacero.com where all published articles till now can be downloaded for free.