LONDON: Scientists in the UK, Syria and Turkiye have shown recycled concrete rubble from buildings ruined in the Syrian civil war can be safely used in new concrete construction.
It means the country, which along with Turkiye was devastated by a serious earthquake in February, can use the estimated 40 million tonnes of concrete debris at its disposal to help rebuild in an environmentally friendly, cost-effective manner.
The scientists showed that incorporating the old concrete into up to half of new concrete aggregate (small pieces of rock) mixes does not significantly weaken it.
Rubble, crushed and checked for impurities from 10 sites in northern Syria, was used in aggregate mixes tested for strength and resistance to corrosive gasses and water.
Having passed all the tests, the scientists now believe that the same standards could be applied to concrete rubble in other parts of the world.
Prof. Abdulkader Rashwani, a concrete expert from Sham University in Aleppo, was forced to flee to Gaziantep, Turkey during the civil war. He traveled back to Syria daily to conduct his research.
Forty percent of the buildings in Aleppo are thought to have been destroyed over the past decade.
“A lot of people needed our help, so we went there and forgot about all the bad consequences,” he said. “We have now started to go to some local councils and help them to put some plans in place for the future. We can at least try to make this region safer and give people some hope.”
In total, around 130,000 buildings are thought to have been destroyed across Syria, with 70 percent of them made from reinforced concrete. As well as buildings, the new findings could be used to replace and fix other infrastructure, such as damaged roads.
Dr. Theodore Hanein, of the University of Sheffield in England, said that the project had been “awesome” and could “make a difference.”
“Sadly, the war has left many buildings destroyed and now, after the devastating earthquake, even more buildings have been damaged or destroyed in northern parts of the country,” he said.
“People will want to rebuild the places destroyed. (Recycling) will save a lot of transportation from bringing in raw materials and that’s usually where you have the most cost and aggregate is becoming scarce. People (in Syria) basically have nothing at the moment.”
The research was published in the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering.
