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One effective method to minimize the increasing cost in the construction industry is by using coal bottom ash waste as a substitute material. The high volume of coal bottom ash waste generated each year and the improper disposal methods have raised a grave pollution concern because of the harmful impact of the waste on the environment and human health. Recycling coal bottom ash is an effective way to reduce the problems associated with its disposal. This paper reviews the current physical and chemical and utilization of coal bottom ash as a substitute material in the construction industry. The main objective of this review is to highlight the potential of recycling bottom ash in the field of civil construction. This review encourages and promotes effective recycling of coal bottom ash and identifies the vast range of coal bottom ash applications in the construction industry.

The in-service Hakka rammed earth buildings, in the Fujian Province of China, are unique in design and performance. Their UNESCO’s inscription as World Heritage sites recognizes their artistic, cultural, social and historic significance. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation of the United States, the authors have examined the engineering values of these buildings in terms of comfortable living at low energy consumption, sustainability and durability. The objective of this study was to better understand the thermo-mechanical and aging responses of Hakka earth buildings under thermal and earthquake loads through nondestructive field evaluation, including full-scale roof truss and floor testing, laboratory testing of field samples and finite element modeling. This paper presents our observations and findings from the field nondestructive evaluations with emphasis on the integrity of the rammed earth outer walls and inner wood structures, as well as the thermal comfort of living in these buildings, while a second paper presents the results from the material characterization of field samples and the structural responses of a representative building under earthquake induced loads through finite element analysis.

Accelerated pavement testing (APT) facilities has been demonstrated for years as a multi-purpose solution for pavement and non-pavement research. Even though APTs are widely known in the pavement industry, little has been publicized about their successful applications in non-pavement research. This paper provides a survey of APT applications in non-pavement research. The purpose of the survey is to review and encourage APT owners and agencies to explore the opportunities that APT facilities can present to promote non-pavement research initiatives. The survey demonstrates the ability of APTs to conduct research for bridges, transportation technology, drainage, geotechnical engineering, automobiles, environmental engineering, highway safety, among others. Non-pavement research can be incorporated into APT programs to diversify funding sources for research operations and promote cooperation with other agencies. Finally, suggestions for future and current APTs are made in this paper, including evaluating connected vehicles, work zone applications, smart infrastructure, truck platooning effects on bridge performance, sustainable drainage systems, bridges, advancement in geotechnical methods, sustainable fuels, and unmanned aerial systems.

The need to lower the embodied carbon impact of the built environment and sequester carbon over the life of buildings has spurred the growth of mass timber building construction, leading to the introduction of new building types (Types IV-A, B, and C) in the 2021 International Building Code (IBC). The achievement of sustainability goals has been hindered by the perceived first cost assessment of mass timber systems. Optimizing cost is an urgent prerequisite to embodied carbon reduction. Due to a high level of prefabrication and reduction in field labor, the mass timber material volume constitutes a larger portion of total project cost when compared to buildings with traditional materials. In this study, the dollar cost, carbon emitted, and carbon sequestered of mass timber beam–column gravity system solutions with different design configurations was studied. Design parameters studied in this sensitivity analysis included viable building types, column grid dimension, and building height. A scenario study was conducted to estimate the economic viability of tall wood buildings with respect to land costs. It is concluded that, while Type III building designations are the most economical for lower building heights, the newly introduced Type IV subcategories remain competitive for taller structures while providing a potentially significant embodied carbon benefit.

Concrete is one of the most used materials after water. Largely owing to this, its environmental impact is substantial, although its embodied carbon per unit volume or mass is low when compared to most alternatives. This, along with the broad availability, good strength, durability and versatility of concrete means that it will remain a material of choice, although more efficient ways of using it must be found. Structurally optimized building components are a means to do this as they can save about 50% material. Unfortunately, however, such elements are presently too expensive to produce owing to them requiring non-standard formwork. It is an objective of digital fabrication to propose solutions to this issue. In this con-text, Digital Casting Systems (DCS) have advanced material control strategies for setting-on-demand in digital concrete processing. Thereby, the formwork pressure is reduced to a minimum, which opens possibilities of rethinking formworks as systems that are dynamically shaping, millimetre thin or weakly supporting the material cast inside. In this paper we present a brief overview of millimetre thin formworks and summarize the first realization of concrete elements that utilizes the mechanics of paper folding to make millimetre thin formworks up to 2.5 meters high. Such formworks could initially be flat packed, erected into shape, and eventually peeled-off and recycled in established material streams. This would reduce waste and transport cost, while offering a surface finish that meets the expectations for exposed concrete surfaces.

Abstract A study undertaken at the University of Liverpool has investigated the potential for using construction and demolition waste (C&DW) as aggregate in the manufacture of a range of precast concrete products, i.e. building and paving blocks and pavement flags. Phase II, which is reported here, investigated concrete paving blocks. Recycled demolition aggregate can be used to replace newly quarried limestone aggregate, usually used in coarse (6 mm) and fine (4 mm-to-dust) gradings. The first objective, as was the case with concrete building blocks, was to replicate the process used by industry in fabricating concrete paving blocks in the laboratory. The compaction technique used involved vibration and pressure at the same time, i.e. a vibro-compaction technique. An electric hammer used previously for building blocks was not sufficient for adequate compaction of paving blocks. Adequate compaction could only be achieved by using the electric hammer while the specimens were on a vibrating table. The experimental work involved two main series of tests, i.e. paving blocks made with concrete- and masonry-derived aggregate. Variables that were investigated were level of replacement of (a) coarse aggregate only, (b) fine aggregate only, and (c) both coarse and fine aggregate. Investigation of mechanical properties, i.e. compressive and tensile splitting strength, of paving blocks made with recycled demolition aggregate determined levels of replacement which produced similar mechanical properties to paving blocks made with newly quarried aggregates. This had to be achieved without an increase in the cement content. The results from this research programme indicate that recycled demolition aggregate can be used for this new higher value market and therefore may encourage demolition contractors to develop crushing and screening facilities for this.