scholarly journals Digital Twins and Road Construction Using Secondary Raw Materials

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Sebastjan Meža ◽  
Alenka Mauko Pranjić ◽  
Rok Vezočnik ◽  
Igor Osmokrović ◽  
Stanislav Lenart

Secondary raw materials (SRMs) tend to be a valuable replacement for finite virgin materials especially since construction works (i.e., building and civil engineering work such as road construction) require vast quantities of raw materials. Using SRM originating from recycling a broad range of inorganic waste materials (e.g., mining waste, different industrial wastes, construction, and demolition waste) has been recognized as a promising, generally more cost-efficient, and environmentally friendly alternative to the exploitation of natural resources. Despite the benefits of using SRM, several challenges need to be addressed before using SRM even more. One of them is the long-term durability and little-known response of construction works built using such alternative materials. In this paper, we present the activities to establish a fully functioning digital twin (DT) of a road constructed using SRM. The first part of the paper is devoted to the theoretical justification of efforts and ways of establishing the monitoring systems, followed by a DT case study where an integrated data environment synthesizing a Building Information Model and monitored data is presented. Although the paper builds upon a small scale, the case study is methodologically designed to allow parallels to be drawn with much larger construction projects.

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mónica Rodríguez-Galán ◽  
Bernabé Alonso-Fariñas ◽  
Francisco Baena-Moreno ◽  
Carlos Leiva ◽  
Benito Navarrete ◽  
...  

Herein an innovative process to develop a potential vitreous material with cementing properties is proposed. This process paves a production path through melting industrial waste and subsequently cooling the casting in water. The idea erases the need to reduce the environmental impact of the cement industry in terms of natural resources consumption as well as the re-utilization of abandoned wastes from other industries. The recycled industrial wastes were selected according to the amount of waste produced in the industrial field and its suitable chemical composition, such as construction and demolition waste and/or shells from shellfish. As a main result, the mechanical properties showed by our novel material were worse than those reported by blast furnace slag (25–28 MPa for two different proportions) for seven days and better (43–52 MPa for two different proportions) for 28 days. The rest of the properties evaluated were in agreement with the standards’ requirements. Hence, this novel process would help to minimize the environmental impact of these wastes at the same time that their use in the cement industry would reduce the consumption of raw materials.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Callun Keith Purchase ◽  
Dhafer Manna Al Zulayq ◽  
Bio Talakatoa O’Brien ◽  
Matthew Joseph Kowalewski ◽  
Aydin Berenjian ◽  
...  

Conventionally, in a linear economy, C&D (Construction and Demolition) waste was considered as zero value materials, and, as a result of that, most C&D waste materials ended up in landfills. In recent years, with the increase in the awareness around sustainability and resource management, various countries have started to explore new models to minimize the use of limited resources which are currently overused, mismanaged, or quickly depleting. In this regard, the implementation of CE (Circular Economy) has emerged as a potential model to minimize the negative impact of C&D wastes on the environment. However, there are some challenges hindering a full transition to CE in the construction and demolition sectors. Therefore, this review paper aims to critically scrutinize different aspects of C&D waste and how CE can be integrated into construction projects. Reviewing of the literature revealed that the barriers in the implementation of CE in C&D waste sectors fall in five main domains, namely legal, technical, social, behavioral, and economic aspects. In this context, it was found that policy and governance, permits and specifications, technological limitation, quality and performance, knowledge and information, and, finally, the costs associated with the implementation of CE model at the early stage are the main barriers. In addition to these, from the contractors’ perspective, C&D waste dismantling, segregation, and on-site sorting, transportation, and local recovery processes are the main challenges at the start point for small-scale companies. To address the abovementioned challenges, and also to minimize the ambiguity of resulting outcomes by implementing CE in C&D waste sectors, there is an urgent need to introduce a global framework and a practicable pathway to allow companies to implement such models, regardless of their scale and location. Additionally, in this paper, recommendations on the direction for areas of future studies for a reduction in the environmental impacts have been provided. To structure an effective model approach, the future direction should be more focused on dismantling practices, hazardous material handling, quality control on waste acceptance, and material recovery processes, as well as a incentivization mechanism to promote ecological, economic, and social benefits of the CE for C&D sectors.


Author(s):  
Marcela Spišáková ◽  
Peter Mésároš ◽  
Tomáš Mandičák

The issue of sustainability has long been the subject of interest of the architecture engineering and construction sector. All three aspects of sustainability - economic, environmental and social - can be affected through appropriate construction waste management. Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is one of the largest worldwide waste streams, therefore it is given great attention by all stakeholders (investors, contractors, authorities, etc.). Researches have shown that one of the main barriers to insufficiency CDW recovery is inadequate policies and legal frameworks to manage CDW. It is also one of the EU's environmental priorities. Aim of the article is to confirm the economic potential of construction and demolition waste audit processing through case study. A pre-demolition waste audit has been processed for unused building of shopping center in the town Snina in Slovakia. Subsequently, a comparison of economic parameters (waste disposal costs and transport costs) of recommended CDW management was performed. This comparison confirmed the economic benefits of environmentally friendly construction waste management methods according to the waste audit results, which will also increase the sustainability of construction projects. In addition, the cost parameters of selected waste disposal methods could be another dimension of building information modelling.


Recycling ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salman Shooshtarian ◽  
Savindi Caldera ◽  
Tayyab Maqsood ◽  
Tim Ryley

While the increasing rate of urbanisation is a critical concern for socio-environmental reasons, this also leads to more extraction of natural raw materials and the generation of significant quantities of construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Although the use of recycled C&D waste products is technically feasible and regulated, and positive application examples are evident, it is still unclear how to engage key stakeholders to leverage this opportunity in construction projects. Previous research has shown that there is some level of resistance to the reuse of recycled C&D waste products in construction projects. This highlights a critical need to identify the roles of key stakeholders and the barriers they face when using recycled C&D materials. This paper therefore investigates the type of stakeholders influencing the use of recycled C&D waste products and the main factors affecting stakeholders’ decisions to use recycled C&D waste products through a systematic literature review. The authors present an emergent enablers and barriers for recycled C&D waste products model and provide commentary on how stakeholders’ perceptions, decision and behaviour influence the use of recycled C&D waste products. The authors also contribute to the body of knowledge with insights into the factors that various stakeholders believe influence the market for recycled C&D waste products and provides a reference point for authorities to consider these behavioural insights for policy reform.


Author(s):  
Denitsa Hvarchilkova ◽  
Margarita Filipova ◽  
Ivanka Zheleva

For environment protection in the European Union (EU) it is very important the construction waste to be recycled and reused. The potential for the construction waste recycling and reuse is high, as their components have high cost. There is an opportunity for re-use of such materials in road construction, for drainage systems, for outdoor sports grounds and other construction sites. In 2012 a regulation on the management of construction waste and on the use of recycled building materials was adopted in Bulgaria, aiming to introduce a new model for the management of construction waste. This would guarantee: creation of favorable legislative and economic conditions for implementation of technologies ensuring the achievement of recycling and recovery targets but which are also financially viable in line with the country's incomes; identifying the persons responsible for covering the costs of building waste management and achieving the recycling and recovery targets; creating conditions for the production and marketing of materials from recycling of construction waste at a price that is competitive with the same new raw materials used in construction. The main effect expected from this normative document is to contribute to Bulgaria's development towards European trends, environmental protection through an integrated framework for the management of construction and demolition waste that will reduce the harmful impacts on it caused by construction waste, improving the efficiency of resource use, increasing the responsibilities of pollutants and stimulating investment in waste management.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 696-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yajian Zhang ◽  
Willie Tan

China’s rapid urbanization has led to rising construction and demolition waste (C&DW) amid a quoted recycling rate of only about 10%. Previous studies on C&DW recycling in China have focused on lack of awareness, weak regulation, limited markets for recycled products, and immature recycling technology. This paper investigates the recycling rate of demolition waste (DW) through a case study of the demolition process in a highway project in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, and data collected through analyses of past documents, field observations, and interviews with key stakeholders to provide contrary evidence that the recycling rate is much higher than reported. The reason for the discrepancy is that the reported recycling rate did not include the efforts of a myriad of relocated residents, small construction businesses, informal recycling establishments, developers, and road construction contractors. Proper estimation of the DW recycling rate in China should consider these efforts, especially from the informal sector.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Marcela Spišáková ◽  
Peter Mésároš ◽  
Tomáš Mandičák

The issue of sustainability has long been the subject of interest in architecture engineering and the construction sector. All three aspects of sustainability—economic, environmental, and social—can be affected through appropriate construction waste management. Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is one of the largest worldwide waste streams, therefore, it is given great attention by all stakeholders (investors, contractors, authorities, etc.). Research studies show that one of the main barriers to insufficient CDW recovery is inadequate policies and legal frameworks to manage CDW. It is also one of European Union’s (EU) environmental priorities. The aim of the article was to confirm the economic potential of construction and demolition waste audit processing through a case study. A pre-demolition waste audit was processed for an unused shopping center building in the town Snina in Slovakia. Subsequently, a comparison of economic parameters (waste disposal costs and transport costs) of the recommended CDW management was performed. This comparison confirmed the economic benefits of environmentally friendly construction waste management methods according to the waste audit results, which would also increase the sustainability of construction projects. Additionally, the cost parameters of selected waste disposal methods could be another dimension of building information modeling.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2247
Author(s):  
Fernando da Silva Souza ◽  
José Maria Franco de Carvalho ◽  
Gabriela Grotti Silveira ◽  
Vitória Cordeiro Araújo ◽  
Ricardo André Fiorotti Peixoto

The lack of usable aggregates for civil construction in Rio Branco (capital of Acre, a Federal State in the Amazon region) makes the production and use of recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste (CDW) an alternative of great interest. In this study, a comprehensive characterization of CDW collected from 24 construction sites of six building types and three different construction phases (structures, masonry, and finishing) was carried out. The fine and coarse recycled aggregates were produced and evaluated in 10 different compositions. The aggregates’ performance was evaluated in four mixtures designed for laying and coating mortars with a total replacement of conventional aggregates and a mixture designed for a C25 concrete with 50% and 100% replacement of conventional aggregates. CDW mortars showed lower densities and greater water retention, initial adhesion, and mechanical strength than conventional mortars. CDW concretes presented lower densities and greater resistance to chloride penetration than conventional concrete, with a small mechanical strength reduction. The recycled CDW aggregates proved to be technologically feasible for safe application in mortars and concrete; for this reason, it is believed that the alternative and proposed methodology is of great interest to the Amazonian construction industry, considering the high costs of raw materials and the need for defining and consolidating a sustainable development model for the Amazon region.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-369
Author(s):  
Jonas Voorter ◽  
Christof Koolen

Abstract The construction sector plays a crucial role in the transition to a circular economy and a more sustainable society. With this objective in mind, Flanders – the Dutch speaking part of Belgium – makes use of a traceability procedure for construction and demolition waste in order to guarantee that value can be derived from downstream waste processing activities. This article takes this traceability procedure as a legal case study and examines if the use of blockchain technology could lead to even stronger supply chains, better data management, and, more generally, a smoother transition to circular practices in the construction sector.


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