Ground improvement using recycled concrete aggregates as semi-rigid inclusion columns

The Australian construction industry is a major consumer of natural aggregates, which are essential to producing concrete. It also excessively depletes these natural resources.

The construction industry also produces massive amounts of construction and demolition waste, including 9 million tonnes of demolition concrete per year.

Hawks Excavation and Stretford Civil Construction have partnered with Swinburne University of Technology to look into replacing natural aggregates with recycled concrete aggregates in construction. This project involves extensive laboratory testing on recycled concrete aggregates for their geotechnical properties. It also develops prototype fully instrumented lab equipment to evaluate the performance of recycled concrete aggregates and determine their viability as an alternative material for ground inclusions in ground improvement projects.

PROJECT PARTNERS

• Hawks Excavation (VIC) Pty Ltd
• Stretford Civil Construction
• Swinburne University