Technologies Serving Concrete for Economy, Durability and Sustainability
Abstract
Concrete comes as the second most used material after water in the world, but it is the
first used construction material especially in Middle East. World population is increasing
while resources are decreasing. Therefore, construction industry needs to find a way to
produce more by consuming less. Currently, concrete production results in significant
carbon dioxide emissions creating an environmental hazard. On the other hand, usable
sand for concrete in many countries is short in supply. Hence, science and technology
need to be used at the earnest to prevent unrecoverable environmental damage associated
with elevated costs. This paper describes a recently developed technology that converts
desert sand into construction sand and aggregates when combined with another
technology of dual mixing scheme capable of providing up to 40% of cement savings in
concrete production; remarkable results are achieved. Those revolutionary, economical
and environment friendly technologies are now available. We will introduce the outlines
of the said technologies and then we shall present the possible applications of these
technologies for efficient, sustainable and durable construction especially for the area.