Rubble Rouser

Can recycled bridges and buildings lure the construction monster away from deep pits and mega-quarries?
Posted on March 26, 2012 Written by Kerry Freek

A 2010 government-sponsored report found that Ontarians use 164 million tonnes of aggregates per year. That number is expected to rise by 13 per cent over the next two decades, while high quality reserves diminish. With scarcity on the horizon, Ontario has faced public opposition to new digs, including a very successful campaign to stop the Highlands Companies quarry proposal for Melancthon Township. Deemed the mega-quarry, the proposed project would see a 200-foot deep, 2,300-acre dig for limestone in this farming community. Aside from the usual NIMBYism, public opposition campaigns voiced some significant concerns about the project. How would the quarry affect the water table? How would a hole the size of the size of 2,000 football fields and deeper than the gorge at Niagara Falls affect the agricultural sector in this prime Ontario farmland? There has been unprecedented support for the Stop the Mega-Quarry cause. Over 5,000 letters have flooded the Ministry of Natural Resources. Musicians Jim Cuddy and Sarah Harmer have lent their voices. Michael Stadtlnder and 100 chefs from across Canada gathered for a public event in support of the movement that over 28,000 people attended. Change is imminent, in part due to the public outcry and broad media coverage. In the past, companies applied to the Ministry of Natural Resources for licenses to mine aggregate. Last September, the Ontario government announced that the Highland proposal would be subject to an environmental assessment (EA)a first for an Ontario quarry. Its a good first step, but balancing future aggregate needs with economic, environmental, and community concerns will require a long-term strategy. Recycling our structures Crushing and reclaiming old concrete could be part of a more sustainable strategy. Instead of turning to pits for new aggregate, the construction sector is increasingly considering the use of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) for building material. Its sustainable and its useful, says Ryerson Universitys Dr. Medhat Shehata. Why not incorporate recycling into the construction industry? Adrian Van Niekerk, chair of the newly-founded advocacy group Aggregate Recycling Ontario (ARO), says RCA is about to become a hot issue in the

Greater Toronto Area. He claims that nearly three million tonnes of recyclable concrete, asphalt, and aggregate are sitting in piles waiting to be processed. Today, it is estimated that only 7.2 per cent of the aggregate used in Ontario is from recycled material. Recycling yards are filling up to capacity with broken concrete and asphalt, yet not nearly enough is leaving the site to be used again in new construction, he said in a December 2011 press release. Some facilities have had to close their yards to new deliveries because there is just no more room. It seems odd that Ontarios recycling yards are overflowing with readily available material while new quarries are dug. Theres a strong argument for using RCAit can help governments and purchasers save money (approximately 60 per cent of the cost per tonne of aggregates is due to transportation expenses), save energy on construction sites, conserve diminishing resources, and help meet goals to divert materials from landfill. But its not that simple. According to ARO, although the Ontario government, through the Ministry of Transportation, and some municipalities have been leaders in using recycled aggregates for years, many municipalities specifications do not allow recycled aggregates to be used in construction projects. Additionally, while the public would like to see less aggregate coming out of the ground, some municipalities make it difficult for operators to obtain zoning for a place to store recycled aggregate. The biggest issue, says Shehata, is durability. While ARO claims that properly processed materials meet all performance requirements, there is still significant concern around using RCA for all types of construction. Sometimes you dont know the source of the material, Shehata says. It could be from different locations, it could be parts of bridge, sidewalk, a structure, and it could all be mixed together. According to the Portland Cement Association, which represents cement companies in the United States and Canada, the quality of concrete mixed with RCA is very dependent on the quality of the recycled material used. Reinforcing steel and other embedded items must be removed and care must be taken to prevent contamination by other materials that can be troublesome, such as asphalt, soil and clay balls, chlorides, glass, gypsum board, sealants, paper, plaster, wood, and roofing materials. When the quality is not uniform, that can have an effect on the materials properties, including strength and long-term durability, Shehata confirms. Shehatas work in Ryersons civil engineering department focuses on the longterm durability of new concrete containing RCA, as well as the use of RCA in unshrinkable fill, a material used for trench filling. Hes also working on optimizing

different concrete mixtures and classes that incorporate RCA. The research is progressing, he says. Were taking different approaches, including blending RCA with natural stone to achieve sustainability and performance requirements. Were also looking at applications that would be more suitable than structuresusually using RCA for construction materials that require lower strength and shorter service life. At present, most RCA in Ontario is used as unbound material in a granular base, such as the material underneath pavement. Shehata says that despite use in concrete in Europe and the United States, Canada does not yet mix RCA with concrete. He hopes that his research findings will help the industry to develop guidelines and best practices for its use. Policy review This March, the Ontario government announced another significant element of a long-term strategy: policy review. In the coming months, the Standing Committee on General Government will review the Aggregate Resources Act, introduced in 1990 and last updated in 1997. The Toronto Star reports that the committee will look at the Acts consultation process, the process of choosing quarry locations, as well as how the legislation addresses operations and rehabilitation, best practices in the industry, fees and royalties, protecting resources, and recycling. While subsequent changes to the Act will probably not affect the Melancthon Township mega-quarry (Highlands application was submitted well before the review was announced), grassroots groups are pleased to hear that the government has taken action. Part of this whole process of fighting for clean water, fresh air, and safe local food is to highlight the issues in ways where it will create better policies, so that other communities dont have to do the same things next year, Carl Cosack, vice-president of the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Task Force (NDACTS), told the Toronto Star. NDACTS is a grassroots group that was formed to lobby against a proposed quarry just north of Orangeville, Ontario. Lorne Johnson, executive director of Socially and Environmentally Responsible Aggregates Canada, has high hopes for the review. Its perfect timing in terms of the desire for change from many of the stakeholders, including industry, the public, and government, he says. Theres clearly been a dramatic shift in public sentiment about how gravel and aggregates are extracted and used. We need to spotlight the need for more monitoring and enforcement, as well as make a real push for greater transparencyin particular for pre-licensing and earlier public engagement. Conservation

Policy updates may ensure more responsibly-sourced materials, and recycling may quell the need for new digs. But Ric Holt, president of Gravel Watch Ontario, says recycling is a distraction from the real problem. Clearly, recycling is a thing weve got to do. The industry is taking it seriously and setting up criteria to do it better, but the recycling rate is just too low to make a dramatic differenceit wont solve the problem by itself. As Ontarios population grows, so will its need for new infrastructure, fuelling the need for more aggregate from dwindling resources. Recycling, says Holt, is important, but it wont be enough. The answer is conservation, he says. Its true that aggregates are very important to us, but we have to figure out how to use less of them. Approximately 50 per cent of all aggregates used in Ontario are for maintenance and construction of roads and bridges. The industry can look at alternate materials, as well as preventative maintenance, as ways of curbing the amount of aggregate needed for the transportation sector. In the end, the issue of protecting natural resources such as aggregate requires a holistic approach to how Canada builds (and rebuilds) its infrastructure, as well as how it manages public expectations. In the future, engineers will have to get by with fewer roads and more people in a given area. We need to respect the fact that aggregates are not infinite, Holt says. If we have to grow, we should do it intelligently. Its going to take a change in outlook.

Kerry Freek is the editor of ReNew Canadas sister publication, Water Canada