Innovative applications and durability of concrete containing construction and industrial by-products

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The concept of sustainable development has been gaining increasing attention in North America and worldwide. The concept calls for meeting our current needs without compromising the needs of future generations. In construction, sustainable development is achieved through different approaches including: (a) minimizing the use of natural resources, such as stones, and maximizing the recycling of reclaimed construction materials in new structures, (b) conservation of lands through reducing the amount of construction and industrial wastes disposed in landfills, (c) reducing the consumption of Portland cement through increasing the use of supplementary cementing materials (SCM) in concrete and construction materials, and (d) producing construction materials of enhanced durability and longer service life. This research project is designed to target the aforementioned approaches. Specifically, the objectives of this project are threefold: (1) to develop practical applications in which demolished concrete, known as Reclaimed Concrete Aggregate (RCA), can be used in lieu of natural stones (these applications include trench filling, structural fill, and concrete for public works), (2) to evaluate some durability aspects in regards to the effects of alkalis contributed from RCA on the reactivity of natural aggregates used with RCA in the same concrete mix (this will complement current research in the area of RCA at other Canadian universities), and (3) to investigate the properties and durability of concrete containing more than one type of SCM (namely slag and fly ash).