DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING BAHAUDIN ZAKARIYA UNIVERSITY

ASSIGNMENT 01

Subject: Highway Construction Material & Equipment

Submitted To: Dr Sajjad Ahmed

Submitted By: Nazeer Ahmad

Roll No: MS-TE-01

Submission Date: September 28, 2019

QUESTION 01: SECONDARY RAW MATERIALS (SRM)
Secondary materials that can be used as mineralizers or fluxes are industrial by-products,
industrial wastes and minerals. These materials contain certain elements that even at low
concentration exert a remarkable effect on the sintering process of cement raw mixture.
Cement production requires a high input of energy mainly because of the thermal treatment of
the raw mixture at high temperature. The efforts to decrease the energy demand have been
focused on three areas: technological improvement of cement plants, utilization of alternative
fuels and raw materials and improvement of cement raw meal reactivity.
The use of alternative raw materials in cement industry, in order to improve the burn ability of
the raw mix, has been broadly discussed in the past and it is expected to attract more attention
in the future.
GLASS WASTE
The amount of waste glass has gradually increased over the recent years due to urbanization
and industrialization where most of the waste glass end up in landfill while only small fraction
can be recycled because of the high cost of cleaning and color sorting. Since glass is not
biodegradable, landfill is not an environmentally friendly solution. Being amorphous and
containing relatively large quantities of silicon and calcium, glass is in theory pozzolanic or
even cementitious in nature when the particle size is less than 75 micron. Finely ground glass
as oppose to coarse waste glass does not contribute to alkali-silica reaction.
FLY ASH
A naturally cementitious material that is obtained as a by-product after coal-combustion is fly
ash. The composition of fly ash constitutes silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3), and iron oxide
(Fe2O3).In order to reduce pollution, fly ash is extracted from the precipitators installed in
smokestacks of coal-burning power plants The chemical content of burned coal properties, i.e.,
anthracite and bituminous, decides the chemical content of the fly ash. When older and harder
anthracite burns, they produce Class F fly ash, which is pozzolanic in nature with 10% lime
(CaO). In order to possess cementitious property, Class F fly ash with the glassy silica and
alumina requires a cementing agent like Portland cement, quicklime, or hydrated lime. The
addition of sodium silicate (water glass) as a chemical activator to a Class F fly ash may lead
to the geopolymer formation. The burning of younger sub-bituminous coal produces fly ash
with pozzolanic and self-cementing properties. The presence of water hardens Class C fly ash
and enhances its strength with time.
When portland cement reacts with water, it produces a hydrated calcium silicate (CSH) and
lime. The hydrated silicate develops strength and the lime fills the voids. Properly selected fly
ash reacts with the lime to form CSH–the same cementing product as in portland cement. This
reaction of fly ash with lime in concrete improves strength. Typically, fly ash is added to
structural concrete at 15-35 percent by weight of the cement, but up to 70 percent is added for
mass concrete used in dams, roller-compacted concrete pavements, and parking areas
SILICA FUME
The environmental concerns necessitated the collection and landfilling of silica fume to be
mandatory. Perhaps the most important use of this material is as mineral admixture in concrete.
Silica fume is added to Portland cement concrete to improve its properties, in particular its
compressive strength, bond strength and abrasion resistance. These improvements stem from
both the mechanical improvements resulting from addition of a very fine powder to the cement
paste mix as well as from the pozzolanic reactions between the silica fume and free calcium
hydroxide in the paste.
When silica fume is added to concrete, initially it remains inert.Once Portland cement and
water in the mix start reacting with each other (hydrating), primary chemical reactions produce
two chemical compounds: Calcium Silicate Hydrate (CSH), which is the strength producing
crystallization, and Calcium Hydroxide (CH), a by-product also called free lime which is
responsible for nothing much other than lining available pores within concrete as a filler or
leaching out of inferior concrete. Pozzolanic reaction occurs between silica fume and the CH,
producing additional CSH in many of the voids around hydrated cement particles. This
additional CSH provides the concrete with not only improved compressive, flexural and bond-
strength but also a much denser matrix, mostly in areas that would have remained as small
voids subject to possible ingress of deleterious materials.
LADLE FURNACE REDUCING SLAG
Ladle furnace slag is a by-product of the steel industry, deriving from the second stage of the
production process, which presents some cementitious properties, mainly due to its high CaO
content. After air cooling and weathering over several days, this material is completely ground
into fine white particles. Physical, chemical, and crystalline characterizations are performed in
order to verify possibilities for its direct application as a construction material. Two ways are
proposed for the immediate use of ladle furnace slag: masonry mortars and paving mixes for
rural roads with low levels of traffic.
Ladle furnace slag is produced during the secondary refining of steel through the addition of
lime (CaO) and dolomitic limestone (CaO·MgO) in the electric arc furnace. The resulting
byproduct, ladle furnace slag, has been used as a sand and cement substitute in masonry
mortars, showing improvements in workability and mechanical strength in the medium term.
ASBESTOS
Asbestos is the common name of fibrous silicate minerals, which was mainly used as a
component of building materials, especially for fabrication of asbestos-cement products.
Carcinogenic activity of asbestos was the reason for including it in a list of seriously hazardous
materials, so the elimination of asbestos-containing materials from the environment is
necessary. One of the methods of utilization of asbestos is destruction its tubular structure by
thermal treatment.
FOUNDRY SAND
Foundry sand is a by-product of ferrous and nonferrous metal casting. It is high quality silica
sand with uniform physical characteristics. Foundry facilities operate by purchasing high
quality silica sand to make casting molds and reuse the sand numerous times within the
foundry. Beneficial reuse of foundry sand continues to become a more accepted practice as
more end-users are introduced to the concept. Beneficial applications of foundry sand include
aggregate replacement in asphalt mixtures, Portland cement concrete, source material for
Portland cement, sand used in masonry mortar mixes, embankments, retaining walls, sub base,
flow able fills, barrier layers and HMA mixtures.
Foundry sand consists primarily of silica sand, coated with a thin film of burnt carbon, residual
binder (bentonite, sea coal, resins) and dust. Foundry sand can be used in concrete to improve
its strength and other durability factors. Foundry Sand can be used as a partial replacement of
cement or as a partial replacement of fine aggregates or total replacement of fine aggregate and
as supplementary addition to achieve different properties of concrete.
ANIMAL FAT
The use of animal fat has been used in the construction industry since roman times. Animal fat
also referred to as tall oil. TOP has a strong connection with cement providing a chemical
adsorption interaction.
SEWAGE SLUDGE
Course solids and bio solids accumulated in wastewater treatment process must be treated and
disposed of in a safe and effective manner-creating sewage sludge. This material may be
inadvertently contaminated with toxic organic and inorganic compounds. However, sludge ash
has been investigated in the production of concrete. Results of several studies have indicated
the benefits of using sewage slag ash in concrete such as compressive strength, freeze- thaw
resistance and good hardening properties. Sewage sludge ash may be used as a mineral filler
substitute or as a portion of the fine aggregate in hot mix asphalt paving.
The major components of SSA are SiO2, CaO, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO and P2O5. These
compounds, in theory, make SSA a good pozzolanic material because when finely ground, SSA
is found to be cementitious. Thus it can be used as cement replacement in Portland cement and
concrete. Some of the advantages include reduction in waste disposal costs, provision of
excellent sustainable practices, conservation of the environment provision of partial solution
to land limitation problem for landfill. Some of its disadvantages are in terms of pozzolanic
activity and strength coupled with high water demand which could be solved by adequate
modification and treatment.
QUESTION 02 : ALIKALI SILICA REACTION
Alkali–Silica Reaction
Alkali–silica reaction takes place between alkalis (Na2O and K2O) from cement or other
sources and certain reactive silica minerals present in the coarse or fine aggregates. The
chemical reaction can result in abnormal expansion and cracking of concrete.
Mechanism
When reactive forms of silica are exposed to the highly alkaline solution, the hydroxyl ions
(OH) in the solution attack the siloxane groups (≡ Si − O−Si ≡) in the aggregate as illustrated
by Eq. (1) to form the silanol groups.

The neutral silanol groups (≡ Si − OH) further react with OH− ions to neutralize the basic
pore solution as shown in Eq. (2).

The continuous attack of the silanol groups by OH− ions present in the pore solution results in
formation of dissolved silica ions (mainly H3SiO4− and H2SiO42 −). Afterwards, these
dissolved silica ions combine with potassium (K+), sodium (Na+) and calcium (Ca2 +) ions,
and produce the ASR gel.
In general, the chemical reactions involved in ASR can be treated as acid-base reactions. The
acid reactant is silica in the aggregate and the basic reactants are potassium and sodium
hydroxides present in the pore solution].The reaction medium is water and the reaction
product is the calcium potassium (or sodium) silicate hydrate.
Controlling Factors
Factors which control the reaction rate and degree of expansion include
 the alkali content,
 the quantity of reactive aggregate and its particle size,
 the moisture content of the concrete and moisture content variations,
 Temperature and the permeability of the concrete.
 The quantity of alkali (a measure of the sodium and potassium content which may
result in high solution pH's within the concrete pores) depends on the type of cement