Experimentally investigating the usability of construction and demolition wastes in the plant-mix base layer

In recent years, there has been growth in the construction sector in the same direction with the population growth. As a result of this growth, there has been a serious increase in the demand for natural aggregate. Many affects have arisen as a result of this demand for natural aggregate. A search for an alternative material to natural aggregate begun to reduce these effects. Construction and demolition wastes generated as result of construction and demolition activities are at the top of these materials. A wide variety of construction and demolition wastes are produced in the world, but these wastes are generally consists of concrete, brick, steel, etc. materials. Since these wastes are produced in large quantities, their storage causes serious environmental and economic problems. For this reason, recycling and reuse of construction and demolition wastes are of great importance in terms of reducing the consumption of environmental and natural resources. Within the scope of this study, the highway base usability of waste interlocking concrete paver (ICP) and crushed brick (CB) stored as construction and demolition waste in landfill area instead of natural aggregate (NA) was investigated. In this study, the granulometry curve of the materials according to the plant-mix base Type 1 specified in the Turkey Highway Technical Specification 2013 (THTS 2013) as the base layer was determined and the base layer design was made to remain within these gradation limits. ICP and CB materials to be used as a result of mixing these materials with NA in certain proportions and for determining the mechanical properties modified Proctor, California bearing ratio (CBR) and resilient modulus experiments were performed. It was investigated whether the materials are suitable for the highway plant-mix base layer by comparing the test result with the specification limits. When the experimental results were examined, it has been determined that the CB material alone is insufficient for the plant-mix base layer according to THTS 2013. In agreement with THTS 2013, ICP material is sufficient in terms of other features other than water absorption value and it can be an alternative material to natural aggregate for the highway plant-mix base layer.