Sustainable Concrete in Transportation Infrastructure: Australian Case Studies

Abstract

Whilst generally concrete and steel are the most common substances for civil engineering construction, new trends and development such as sustainable and green material have a lesser effect on the environment. Typically, approximately 90% of a concrete structure’s CO2 emissions are a result of the energy consumed during its life, there is much that can be done to reduce that 10% associated with its construction. Thus, innovative engineering materials, such as Recycled Concrete (RC) have emerged with the potential to influence the future of an environmentally sustainable construction industry. This research investigates the RC as the basis of sustainable concrete for civil engineering construction such as roads, rail and so on. Furthermore, number of examples, 6 roads and 6 rail segments in Sydney, were reviewed. Overall, this research found that for the 6 road and rail case studies generally only RC is utilized as the basis of sustainable material. Although, this is a very small sample, however, a pattern can be noticed. Unfortunately, the pattern is the lack of innovative sustainable material other than concrete for such transportation infrastructure. Appropriately, further investigation is required to review the possibility of other sustainable materials including those incorporating waste-by products as the basis consolidated sustainable material usage in transportation infrastructure.