Use of concrete road recycled aggregates for Roller Compacted Concrete

Construction waste management is a quite important economical and environmental deal for our societies. More than 2 million tons demolition and construction wastes are annually produced only in Wallonia, Southern Region of Belgium; recycling has clearly to be promoted. Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) is a special dry concrete made of aggregates, water and low quantity of cement, laid down and compacted like a soil, for the construction of massive structures like dams or large horizontal surfaces like road foundations. The topic of this research is the replacement of natural aggregates by concrete road recycled aggregates in the mix design of concrete. Characteristics of aggregates are of prime importance for the quality of the concrete: Los Angeles, water absorption and specific gravity. It has been observed that RCC with natural and concrete road recycled aggregates are similar for solid compactness, while no major influence of cement content - when around 200 kg - may be detected. However, compressive strength is higher for RCC with natural aggregates. This study clearly shows the opportunity of using concrete road recycled aggregates for RCC in basements. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.