TRAC Project

Concrete, owing to its availability, easy preparation and fabrication, is the most popular construction material. Today, concrete is the second most used material after water, with nearly three tonnes used annually for each person on earth. Due to the vast amount of concrete being produced and the huge amount of demolition waste from old concrete structures, the reuse of concrete waste by the cons

truction industry is becoming increasingly important. This is motivated not only by the environmental protection, but also by the conservation of natural aggregate resources, the shortage of waste disposal land, and the increasing cost of waste treatment prior to disposal. The aim of this project is to develop tailor-made concretes by using recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) for structural applications to promote the increased use of RCA in civil infrastructure projects, particularly in marine environment which is currently restricted. This RISE project will bring together an international team of researchers with a wide variety of skills in concrete research, to tackle the challenges faced by the construction industry. The project involves five partners (two from the Europe and three from the third countries) with an extensive exchange of researchers over four years. The project will focus on the specific applications of recycled aggregate concretes in building and marine environment. The former needs to consider the fire safety issues, whereas the latter requires the consideration of durability. The research will cover properties of RCAs, fresh state properties of recycled aggregate concretes, mechanical properties of hardened recycled aggregate concretes and micro-structure properties of recycled aggregate concretes.