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Figure 1.

A rhino horn snags reinforcing


steel and pulls it free from concrete
fragments. Workers can then use torches or
pneumatic or hydraulic shears to cut the
steel to lengths that are easy to transport.

Recycling concrete pavements


By James W. Mack, Clinton E. Solberg,
and Gerald F. Voigt

Using crushed concrete as aggregate conserves resources and eliminates disposal costs

reaking up an old concrete can be used in concrete shoulders, aggregate. The key steps in recy-

B pavement and reusing it as


aggregate is a cost-effective
option for reconstructing deterio-
median barriers, and granular and
lean concrete base layers. Fine ag-
gregate also makes good fill for
cling portland cement concrete
pavements are preparation, break-
ing, concrete removal, steel separa-
rated pavements. Recycling elimi- subgrade corrections. tion, and crushing.
nates disposal problems and tip- Pavement preparation. The first
ping fees. In urban areas where Recycling operations step is to remove joint sealant,
landfill space is scarce, dumping The existence of reinforcement shoulders, asphalt patches or over-
concrete is difficult and costly. The in concrete pavement is no longer lays, and anything else that may
cost of recycling concrete pave- a limitation to recycling. Advance- contaminate the recycled aggre-
ments only includes the cost of ments in crushing equipment and gate. Typically, front-end loaders
crushing. Costs for aggregate haul- techniques allow doweled, are used to remove joint sealants
ing and concrete disposal are elim- mesh-reinforced, and continuously (with a metal tooth that rakes out
inated. reinforced pavements to be recy- the sealant), scrape off asphalt
In some areas, the supply of ac- cled. overlays, or pick up loose material
ceptable natural aggregates is The goal of recycling concrete after milling. The loader can dis-
dwindling. Reusing existing mate- pavement is to maximize produc- lodge any material still adhering to
rial is helpful where quality sup- tion of coarse aggregate. The the old concrete surface. Brooming
plies are scarce. A new concrete coarse aggregates are more valu- removes most loose particles. As-
mix can contain up to 100% recy- able and more usable than fines. A phalt shoulder removal should
cled coarse aggregate, and recycled contractor has many choices of re- precede breaking operations on re-
fines can replace 10% to 15% of vir- cycling equipment and processes, construction projects. Removing
gin sand. Recycled aggregate also each affecting the yield of coarse the shoulders takes away lateral
support on the slab, which eases Aggregate Characteristics
portland cement concrete (PCC)
pavement breaking and removal. Most of the same tests performed on virgin aggregate are necessary
Pavement breaking. Breaking for recycled PCC pavement aggregate. Extensive research on recycled
shatters concrete for ease of han- material helped set test limits and target value ranges for recycled ag-
dling, and debonds concrete and gregate. Many of these tests have shown recycled aggregate to be of
reinforcing steel. Heavier breakers better quality than most virgin material. Here are some basic character-
can rupture steel wire mesh. Typi- istics of recycled coarse aggregates:
cally, breaking machines are classi- Gradations—Recycled aggregates can be specified to the same gra-
fied as impact and resonant. Diesel dation ranges as virgin materials.
hammer and drop weight devices Specific gravity—The specific gravity of recycled coarse aggregate
operate at 90 blows per minute, will be lower than that of virgin aggregate. Typical values are 2.2 to 2.5.
and break rubble into pieces 18 to Absorption—Recycled aggregate water absorption is much higher
24 inches across. Resonant devices because of old cement mortar attached to the particles.
deliver more than 2,600 vibrations Abrasion loss—Typical recycled aggregate values range from 20%
per minute and tend to form to 45%, which is less than the upper limit of 50%.
pieces about 6 inches across. Sulfate soundness—It is not necessary to run the sulfate soundness
Several factors affect the produc- test on recycled aggregate. Typical values are 3 or less, which is far be-
tion rate of breaking equipment. low the maximum loss allowable by ASTM.
More impact energy is needed Residual chlorides—Residual chloride from road salt applications
with greater slab thickness, con- usually varies from 0.07% to 0.09%, which is below the critical thresh-
crete strength, and quantity of rein- old values.
forcing steel. As base support in- Contaminants—Contamination limits for recycled aggregate used
creases, less impact energy is in concrete mixes should be the same as virgin coarse aggregate. Cont-
needed to effectively break the amination usually is not a problem in rural highway or airport pave-
concrete pavement. ment recycling if the pavement is prepared and removed carefully. No
Breaking energy can be varied problems will result from some contamination in a base course aggre-
gate.
The type of crushing equipment used influences fine aggregate gra-
dation. Usually the fine material will be very angular, with an extreme-
ly high absorption rate and a low specific gravity, because the majority
of the fine material is mortar from the old concrete. in recycled fine ag-
gregate the chloride content is about 0.03%o.

by the number of passes, forward picked up during concrete re-


speed, or drop height of the break- moval.
er. The desirable size of broken Pavement and reinforcing steel
pieces is typically less than 24 inch- removal. Typically, reinforcing
es. Front-end loaders and dump steel removal occurs during sever-
trucks can easily remove and al phases of the recycling process.
transport broken pavement. How- Most often, contractors remove
ever, break energy should not continuous reinforcement on-site;
push concrete pieces into underly- dowels and tie bars are removed at
ing granular layers, subgrade, and the recycling plant.
culverts. This will force loaders to Continuous reinforcement is
pick up base material along with separated and removed with a rhi-
Figure 2. Final removal of steel broken concrete, which contami- no horn—a 30-inch curved pick
(typically dowels and tie bars) takes nates the old concrete and intro- that hooks the steel and pulls it
place at the recycling plant during
crushing. An electromagnet catches duces fines. The use of buckets and free from the concrete (Figure 1).
steel moving along a conveyor belt blades with digging teeth helps Large breakers can completely sev-
between primary and secondary minimize the removal of base ma- er steel mesh in concrete. A rhino
crushers. In the foreground is a pile of
steel removed during crushing terials. Additional aggregate will horn mounted on a backhoe
operations. be required to replace material breaks any large fragments, then
lifts, separates, and piles the bro- tion to maximize the yield of shows concrete mix designs for
ken concrete. A front-end loader coarse aggregate while maintain- three highway recycling projects.
places the material into trucks for ing a typical coarse aggregate gra- Special care is necessary when
transport. This permits pavement dation. Crushing for large top-size using recycled fine aggregate in a
removal without any steel cutting aggregate produces greater total new concrete mix. Too many recy-
at the roadway. yield than smaller topsize since cled fines can produce a harsh, un-
Final removal of steel from con- less crushing is necessary. Proper workable mix. Typically, only
crete fragments takes place during screen selection enables a crushing about 10% to 20% recycled fines
the crushing operations at the recy- plant to meet American Associa- are used; the rest is virgin sand.
cling plant. An electromagnet tion of State Highway and Trans- Testing recycled fines at several
placed between primary and sec- portation Offficials (AASHTO) substitution rates will determine
ondary crushers catches steel mov- gradations 57 and 67. A plant can the optimal mix.
ing along a conveyor belt (Figure meet any desired gradation with
2). The salvaged steel becomes the appropriate adjustments. New pavement Construction
property of the contractor, who can No special techniques are neces-
sell the material as scrap metal. Using recycled aggregate sary for constructing a new con-
Crushing. The same basic Recycled aggregate meeting the crete pavement made with recy-
equipment that processes virgin requirements for virgin aggregate cled aggregate. These projects can
aggregates crushes, sizes, and can be included in the concrete meet the same quality standards as
stockpiles recycled PCC pavement. mix or used in base courses. Typi- those using virgin materials.
Most recycling plants have a pri- cally, the contractor decides how to The workability of a concrete
mary and a secondary crusher. The best use the material. The most mix depends on the amount and
primary crusher normally reduces common application is for base characteristics of the recycled fines.
the material down to about a 3- to course. The cost of using recycled Mixes with a large quantity of re-
4-inch size. aggregates for base material in- cycled fines can be harsh and diffi-
A vibrating screen separates cludes only the cost of crushing cult to finish due to their angulari-
fines (less than 3⁄8 inch) which are operations. Breaking, removal, ty and high absorption rate. Using
stockpiled. Material larger than 3⁄8 steel separation, and transporta- natural sand in the concrete mix
inch is fed to a secondary crusher, tion costs are incidental. will minimize these problems. Re-
which breaks it into the maximum When using recycled aggregate cycled coarse aggregate produces
desired coarse aggregate size. in concrete, no special handling, little variation in concrete worka-
Crushing fragments with embed- batching, or mixing procedures are bility. In some cases, pavements
ded steel requires lowering the belt necessary. However, the high ab- are built in two courses. The slab
below the primary crusher, which sorption of recycled aggregate may design has a bottom layer of con-
provides room for long pieces of make it necessary to add more wa- crete using recycled aggregates
steel to fall without jamming and ter and start with a higher slump. and an upper slab portion using
ripping the belt. Dry recycled aggregate continues high-quality virgin material. The
The basic types of crushing ma- to absorb mix water after mixing design requires an upper layer
chines are cone and jaw compres- in the batch plant. This results in thickness of about 11⁄2 inch. A mod-
sion crushers and vertical and hor- less workability and a lower ified slipform paver or spreader
izontal impact crushers. The slump at the paving site. Some places the lower layer of
difference between them is how contractors use sprinklers to keep recycled-aggregate concrete, then a
they pulverize the concrete. Newer recycled aggregate stockpiles slipform paver places the
pavement crushers can process moist. high-quality concrete upper layer.
broken concrete at rates of 200 to In most cases, recycling provides The base course is still wet during
500 tons per hour. more than enough coarse aggre- placement of the top course. After
Yield. Recycling concrete pave- gate if material to replace an exist- consolidation and curing, the two
ment yields 45% to 80% usable ing pavement, and no new virgin courses become a monolithic slab.
coarse aggregate. Yield will vary coarse aggregate is required. When
based on pavement type and using recycled aggregate, normal Finished Concrete properties
crushing plant design. Average mix design methods are followed. Compressive strengths of recy-
yield is about 65%. The contractor Trial batches help verify that a mix cled-aggregate concrete are similar
should adjust the crushing opera- will meet specifications. The table to those for virgin-aggregate con-
crete. For mixes containing recy- small (less than 1 inch). Shear and
cled fines, expect some minor bending stresses on mesh rein-
strength reductions. This is be- forcement are high without the ad-
cause natural sand particles are ditional load transfer that aggre-
stronger than recycled fine aggre- gate interlock provides. This
gates. The majority of the strength results in steel ruptures and crack-
loss is from material smaller than ing.
0.08 inch. Drainage systems may need al-
Flexural strength of concrete teration when using recycled con-
with recycled coarse aggregate crete for an unstabilized drainable
might be slightly lower than a sim- base. Crushing operations may
ilar mix with virgin aggregate usu- produce dust and fine material
ally no more than 10% when nat- that can cling to the larger coarse
ural sand is used. Using recycled aggregate particles. In an unstabi-
fine aggregate in the mix might re- lized permeable base, draining wa-
duce flexural strength 10% to 20%. ter may wash the dust off the larg-
Many recycled aggregates pro- er aggregates, which can clog
duce concrete with better freeze- pipes and filter fabric. If a Portland
thaw durability than concrete cement-stabilized permeable base
made with all virgin materials. is used, this will not happen and
When recycling D-cracked con- adjustments to drain system de-
crete, improved freeze-thaw dura- sign are unnecessary.
bility is possible by reducing ag- If a pavement exhibits alkali-sili-
gregate size to a maximum of 3⁄4 ca reactivity, evaluate and test a
inch. It is important to perform mix before deciding to recycle the
freeze-thaw durability tests on pavement. Avoid including recy-
specimens containing aggregates cled alkali-silica material as an ag-
from an old D-cracked PCC pave- gregate if virgin material is readily
ment. The addition of about 20% available. In aggregate-scarce loca-
fly ash also can enhance durability. tions, it may be important to inves-
tigate using the material. A new
Other Considerations mix using recycled alkali-silica ma-
The top size of coarse aggregate terial should contain a low alkali
is especially important when using Type II cement and a low water-ce-
recycled aggregate in jointed rein- ment ratio to reduce further reac-
forced concrete pavements. Be- tivity. Adding a Type F fly ash
cause reinforced panel lengths are meeting ASTM C 618 also can re-
much longer than panels without duce the potential for further reac-
reinforcement, joints and cracks tivity.
undergo much wider movement
than joints in plain pavements. A Reference
completely open midpanel crack Recycling Concrete Pavement, Publi-
cation No. TB-014P, American Con-
may lose aggregate interlock, espe- crete Pavement Association (ACPA),
cially if the coarse aggregates are Skokie, IL, 1993.

PUBLICATION #C930470
Copyright © 1993, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved

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