A comprehensive review on the use of recycled concrete aggregate for pavement construction: Properties, performance, and sustainability

Abstract

Using recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) for pavements is crucial to achieving sustainability. Implementing RCA for new pavement can minimize carbon footprint, conserve natural resources, reduce harmful emissions, and lower life cycle costs. Compared to natural aggregate (NA), RCA pavement has fewer comprehensive studies and sustainability assessments. This study presents a state-of-the-art review on the utilization of RCA for pavement construction, with a large scope originating from a comprehensive literature dissection. The study compares RCA and NA pavement's physical, chemical, mechanical, and durability properties. As reported, their properties highly depend on the methods, the extent of crushing, the amount of adhered paste and the residual mortar with which the RCA is produced. Pavement performance was conducted from three perspectives: the use of RCA for pavement sublayers, rigid layers, and flexible layers, as well as their separate evaluation test techniques. A comparative environmental evaluation revealed that the RCA inclusion contributes to sustainability gain in minimizing the health hazards effect, waste generation, and the pressure on landfill sites than conventional pavement construction.

Keywords

• Recycled concrete aggregates
• Sustainability
• Engineering properties
• Life cycle assessment
• RCA inclusion and recovery