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Articles

Vol 2, No 1(2014): June 2014

Prospect of Recycled Coarse Aggregate for Concrete Production in Nigeria

  • O. J. Ameh
  • U. E. Edike
Submitted
May 5, 2016
Published
2016-05-05

Abstract

The non-degradable nature of concrete waste from demolition and collapsed
building sites, coupled with environmental degradation and exposure to heavy metals in the
process of extracting aggregate constitute hazards to health and the environment. This study
focused on the prospect of recycled coarse aggregate for concrete production. The coarse
aggregate component of normal concrete was replaced with 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%
Recycled Coarse Aggregate (RCA) in a 1:2:4 cement, sand and aggregate mix proportion and
0.5 water/cement ratio. Result shows that workability, saturated bulk density, compressive
strength and flexural strength decreases with increase in RCA content in concrete. 100%
manually recycled coarse aggregate concrete passed the 17 kN/m2 compressive strength limit
generally acceptable for concrete work of non high strength requirement without additive. The
research therefore recommends the use of recycled coarse aggregate concrete for plain low
strength concrete elements for buildings. The economic benefit of RCA concrete includes
efficient reuse of recovered coarse aggregate from demolished and collapsed buildings and to
avert risk to health and the environmental.