The Standard Specifications for Concrete Structures of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, which are the technical standard for the design, construction, and maintenance of concrete structures in the field of civil engineering in Japan, have been revised and published as the 2022 Edition, which consists of three volumes: General Principles, Design, and Maintenance. This paper, which is the first of a series of three papers, outlines the revisions in the three volumes and introduces the General Principles volume. The main features of this revised edition of the Standard Specifications for Concrete Structures are: (1) an emphasis on renovation in light of recent societal trends, (2) unification of descriptions based on the original purpose of the commentaries, and (3) simultaneous publication of an electronic version of the Standard Specifications for Concrete Structures. The General Principles section, which is seeing its first revision in ten years, retains the general approach from the 2012 edition but incorporates revisions to reflect societal changes and the latest related information.

Geopolymers being studied in the construction field are mainly fly ash based, and currently replacing a portion of the fly ash with ground blast furnace slag for strength improvement is favored. In addition to being a low­carbon material that allows effective utilization of various by­products, geopolymers have excellent resistance to strong acids and high temperatures, and have also the ability to fix toxic substances such as heavy metals and cesium. This paper introduces some of the results of the “Research Subcommittee for the Promotion of Practical Application of Geopolymer Technology in Civil Engineering (2019­2022)” established by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), as well as the latest research and projects of the respective authors.