Sustainable Concrete

st
Construction in the 21
Century:
Challenges & Opportunities
Dr. Mohamed Lachemi, P.Eng.
Department of Civil Engineering
Ryerson University
Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Construction

Outline
Introduction
Current Situation
Challenges
Opportunities
Research Activities
Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Construction

Construction Industry Today

In Canada, the construction industry
generates annually $110 billions and
creates almost 1 million jobs.
Worldwide, this sector generates
around US$3.5 trillion.

Construction Industry Today

Issues facing the industry:
Little emphasis on R&D;
Poor image;
Mobile workforce;
Poor productivity.

What is Sustainable Development?

"Sustainable development meets the
needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own
needs."
United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development

Sustainability & Construction

Sustainable development in
construction should translate into:
Improved quality of life;
Protection of the environment;
Energy conservation;
Waste reduction & recycling;
Efficient use of natural resources;
Better operational performance.

Concrete in our lives

Concrete is the most widely used
construction material in the world.
Worldwide, the yearly production of
concrete is of the order of 13 billion
tonnes.
Humankind consumes only water in larger
quantities.

Concrete in our lives

Concrete
(concretus)
is the key
material for
Mankind to
create the
built
environment

Concrete in our lives

What would
modern
civilization
be without
concrete?

What is Concrete?
Cement

Water
(Additives
)

Aggregate

Concret
e

Properties of Concrete
Concrete is relatively inexpensive,
strong, versatile, and resistant to
fire, impact, water, and weather.
It has also a longer service life than
most construction products and
requires little maintenance.

How Good is Good Enough?

Concrete
can be
made to
last as
long as we
want it to.

How Good is Good Enough?

Concrete
can be
made to
last as
long as we
want it to.

How Good is Good Enough?

Concrete
can be
made to
last as
long as we
want it to.

How Good is Good Enough?

Why do
Modern
reinforced
concrete
structures
begin to
deteriorate
in 20 years
or less?

The Problem
Because we use so much concrete,
and because concrete has
competing materials for many
applications, the tendency is to
provide the concrete at the lowest
possible cost.

The Current Situation

In the US, it will cost US$2 to US$3
trillion over the next 20 years to
repair all the concrete structures
which are now deteriorating from
corrosion and are poorly made and
maintained.
National
Research Council Report, 1990.

The Current Situation

In Canada, it is estimated that the
cost of repair all concrete
structures is in the range of $75
billion.

New Perspectives
High-performance and durability should
be given high priority in the selection
of materials and construction practices.

High Performance & Durability

The Confederation Bridge

Expected life cycle : 100 years
The ice shields are exposed to salt water,
freezing and thawing and ice abrasion.

PEI Girder

Eiffel Tower
7800 t

7200 t

Is the Confederation Bridge Safe?

Another Challenge
We need to learn how to better realize
the potential of concrete as
construction material by producing it
with the use of less energy and smaller
emissions of greenhouse gases.

CO2 Gases & Energy Consumption

The production of one ton of
cement releases about one ton of
CO2 into the atmosphere. This
contributes to what is now
commonly called global warming.

Cement Production

Life Cycle Analysis

Emissions
& Energy
Resource
extractio
n

Lime Pit

Natural
Water and
Aggregates
Resources

SCM &
Additives
Cement
Production

Life
Cycle

Recyclin
g

Use of
waste
materials
Landfil
l

Adapted from Lambros & Androus

Re-use
Classifying

Demolition
Design

Opportunities
The construction industry is by far the
most promising sink for recycling
industrial, mining, and household
wastes because of the large volume of
materials used and its tolerance for
variability in their properties.

Vision
This Canada Research Chair in Sustainable
Construction is driven by a vision that
large volumes of waste products can be
transformed into useful construction
materials, providing economic gains,
health benefits, and environmental relief.

Waste & By-product Materials

Slag;
Fly ash;
Silica fume;
Cement kiln dust;
Industrial sludges;
Limestone screening & quarry dust;
Incinerator ash.

Fly Ash in the Construction Industr

Fly Ash in the construction Industry

Coal-Ash Production & Utilization

New Generation of Products

High performance concrete (HPC);
Self consolidating concrete (SCC);
Reactive powder concrete (RPC);
Flowable fill;
Structural fill;
Roller compacted concrete (RCC).

Our Focus
Self Compacting/Consolidating Concrete
(SCC) is among the new materials that
can be used for some of our pressing
needs for high performance and more
durable materials, and innovative
construction methods in the 21 st century.

New Generation of Concrete

The problem of the durability of concrete
structures due, among other things, to a
significant reduction in the number of
skilled workers in Japan's construction
industry has led to the development of
SCC in the beginning of 1990s.

What is SCC?
SCC must:
Have a fluidity that allows
self-consolidation without
vibration,
Remain homogeneous
during and after the
placing process, and
Flow easily through
reinforcement.

How to Achieve Self-Consolidation?

Limiting the coarse aggregate

content;
Increasing the paste content;
Using a superplasticizer and

lowering the water-to-powder

ratio (W/P).
Okamura and Ouchi, RILEM Symposium on SCC, Stockholm 1999

Benefits of SCC
Substantial

reduction in construction
time and labour cost;
Substantial

reduction in the exposure

to compaction and vibration noise;
Proper

filling of restricted access

areas and heavily reinforced
members;
Facilitating

constructibility with
superior surface quality and finishing.

Benefits of SCC (Our Approach)

Optimization
Safe

of cement use;

disposal of waste products;

Increased

life-span of structures;

Reduction

in Greenhouse Gas

Emissions.

Use of SCC
SCC has already been used in several
countries. In Japan, major
construction projects included the use
of SCC in the late 90s. Today, in
Japan, efforts are being made to free
SCC of the special concrete label
and integrate it into day-to-day
concrete industry production.

Use of SCC in Japan

The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge:

the worlds longest suspension bridge

Use of SCC in Japan

The use of SCC shortened the anchorage

construction period by 20%, from 2.5 to 2
years.

Use of SCC in Japan

Osaka Gas
Terminal:
the
Worlds
Largest PC
LNG
Storage
Tanks

Use of SCC in Japan

In addition to enlarging the
capacity of the new tanks, the use
of SCC technology resulted in:
A decrease in the number of
concrete workers from 150 to 50;
and
A decrease of construction time
from 22 Osaka
to 18Gas
months.
Terminal

Use of SCC in Japan

Osaka Gas has conducted a number of studies over
the years that eventually led to the development
of a safe and reliable world-record capacity
180,000-m3 PC LNG storage tank. In addition to the
advantage of the scale brought about by
increasing the tank capacity, construction costs
were significantly reduced by more than 10% by
aggressively introducing various new technologies
that reduced construction cost and period. In
terms of the land use, the 180,000-m3 PC LNG
storage tank can be installed in the same space
used for a 75,000-m3 double-walled metal tank,
which is an improvement in land use efficiency of
Osaka Gas Co. Website
2.5 times.

Our Research Activities

Novel
concrete
mix design

Structural
evaluation

Durability
evaluation

Material
characterizatio
n

Environmental &
other benefits
Sensors & NDE
(actual
structures)

Structural
performance
models

Long-term
behaviour &
durability
models

Smart
monitori
ng &
testing

Lab studies

Field studies

Will SCC Become the

Standard for Designing
Concrete Structures?

One cannot design and work

with a material which one does
not know and understand
thoroughly. Therefore, design
quality starts with education.

Prof. Jorg Schlaich

Our Mission
Our mission is to educate the future
leaders of the profession and to
provide skills and foundations for
life-long learning and growth.

Attracting the Best and Brightest

Research Associates and PDFs
Dr. K.M.A. Hossain, Dr. H. Kada (Faculty, France), Dr. H. Mesbah
(Faculty, France), Dr. H. Farhat (Lecturer, Amer. Uni. Beirut)
PhD Students
R. Elimov (ExxonMobil), M. Benzerzour
Masters Students
B. Lambros, R. Patel, C. Anagnostopoulos, M. Ramcharitar, G.
Walters, M. Itashi, S.A. Kashif, P. MacAteer (Yolles), M.
Lemieux (St-Lawrence Cement)
Undergraduate Students
L. Wagner, S. Sutherland, A. Hassen, W. Thaha, B. Majok

Team of Truly Outstanding HQP

History would have it that the
chiefs win the battles when, in
actually, the braves do the fighting.

Paraphrase of an American Indian saying

Why Sustainable development?

We do not inherit the earth
(environment) from our parents,
we borrow it from our children.
Lets honor our debt!

Old African saying

Thank you