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Demolished house - Big Easy Demolition

Why You Should Repurpose Your Concrete

In any construction project, you can always find the demolition of sidewalks, foundations, and walls that are made up of concrete.

These demolition projects usually end with a huge amount of heavy materials left for the contractor to deal with.

However, there is a great way for the concrete to not go to waste. Repurpose concrete is one way and for concrete to be recycled, and there are numerous ways to do so.

Repurposing them usually involves crushing or pulverizing the concrete usually on site where the demolition took place.heap of broken bricks and concrete on demolition site - Big Easy Demotion

There are many ways to re-use concrete again, and it is up to the builder on how the concrete can be made new. New pieces of concrete will depend on the size or shape of the original concrete.

Repurposing concrete not only is good for reusing them again but one benefit is saving on construction costs as well as helping in not contributing to the waste that goes to our environment.

When you repurpose concrete you take part in keeping concrete out of landfills, you also save time and money in transporting them to be used and dumped elsewhere.

Besides that, repurposing concrete can create more jobs by producing more employment opportunities.

What can you do with old concrete?

 

  1. Artificial reefs

    Recycling concrete is a great alternative to make artificial reefs as reefs have been slowly dying out in our oceans. Reefs are needed by various marine life as their habitat and for them to thrive.

    The concrete is turned to rubble to be turned as artificial reefs, they are then placed where reefs are naturally forming for corals to get attached and grow

    The concrete turned to artificial reefs are only an alternative and not long-lasting, they only have a lifespan of a decade but 10 years is good enough for coral and marine life to use and move to another when no longer useful.

  2. Foundation bases

    A strong foundation is essential for any building. The foundation helps prevent damage to occur to the building such as from sinking and shaking from earthquakes. The concrete is poured to create foundations but old pieces of concrete can be recycled to be mixed in, in a process called rubble trench foundation.

    Related: How to Remove Patio Concrete

    Take care when using this recycling method as certain soil types can support these trenches however, making this foundation base is ideal for bigger pieces of the concrete rubble.

  3. Retaining walls

    Repurpose concrete chunks that come in various sizes are a great fit to fill retaining walls.

    Retaining walls are used in many places that have many uses. Retaining walls are good for stopping erosion and also limiting the level of noise that comes from neighborhoods and busy roads.

    There are various ways and styles that can come from retaining walls and one of them is using wire baskets that are full of rocks and rubble which are then stacked and secured in place.

  4. Utility trenches

    One thing that utility trenches need to be is to be sturdy and durable and using recycled concrete is a great way to achieve this.

    Utility trenches need to also have efficient drainage in order for the water to reach the ground, smaller pieces of concrete are a great way to add to the base for good drainage.

  5. Concrete aggregate

    Aggregate is one-way concrete can be recycled. The aggregate is laid in the concrete to act as the form and glue to allow the concrete to have more body and to fortify it.

    Common aggregates are sand and gravel but the old concrete can be pulverized or crushed to be used as aggregate as well.
    Ensure that the old concrete is checked first so that there is no debris that is mixed in to have the best material.

Benefits of Concrete Recycling

 

1. Environmental benefits

One great benefit of recycling your concrete is that you don’t add to the waste that is being added to landfills. Recycling concrete also decreases the draining away of water from the surface of an area of land or from demolition sites and prevents it from flowing into sewers.

It also helps in strengthening the underground water tables. Here are more benefits when you recycle your demolition debris. When you reuse concrete slabs, it can be used by construction workers to arrange the various pieces to let rainwater drain faster to the ground rather than creating and pouring new concrete again.

Destroyed building - Big Easy DemotionEven after recycling, concrete still retains its strength and durability and diminishes its use to mine aggregates for gravel.

The crushed concrete is another alternative to gravel and covers driveways and trenches for utility.

Another environmental benefit of recycled concrete for the environment is that the slabs of concrete are a great foundation for marine life to grow such as coral in order to make new reefs.

The repurpose concrete slab helps in reducing pollution in rejuvenating and rehabilitating the ecosystems under the sea.

The broken pieces of concrete slabs are also helping in preventing erosion when placed along river banks.

When you use recycled concrete you help in the conservation of the environment by not using our natural resources such as gravel mining, water, oil, coal, and natural gas.

2. Saves money in construction costs

The reuse of demolished concrete can save you money on costs concerning the demolition or new projects in construction. You can also save money by recycling as you don’t have to shell out transportation costs to bring the concrete to landfills.

In any construction site, there is equipment for concrete to process to be transformed into manageable pieces to be used for new projects or for other purposes. You can also use the concrete in the upcoming projects on the same sites such as using the concrete as bases for driveways.

Equipment Used to Recycle Concrete

  • Rubble crusher
  • Side discharge conveyor
  • Screening plant
  • Return plant
  • Crushing plant
  • Excavator

How Concrete Is Recycled

The process of recycling concrete is by using construction equipment that is perfect for crushing big concrete chunks or bigger pieces of concrete slabs into any size needed for its new use.

The concrete is broken up and then passed through a secondary impactor and a screening plant is used to get rid of other debris, dirt, and larger pieces to segregate the big and small pieces of aggregate.

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Big Easy Demolition is a licensed and insured company providing demolition services for both home and business.

We proudly serve the areas of Metairie, Slidell, New Orleans, Kenner, Laplace, and all throughout the Greater New Orleans area.