Construction

and Building

Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175

MATERIALS
www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Effects of contaminants on the properties of concrete paving

blocks prepared with recycled concrete aggregates
Chi-Sun Poon *, Dixon Chan
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Environmental Engineering Unit, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Received 24 November 2004; received in revised form 14 June 2005; accepted 30 June 2005
Available online 19 August 2005

Abstract

The use of recycled aggregates for preparing concrete products has been successfully implemented and gaining wider acceptance.
However, the allowable level of contaminating materials (e.g., crushed clay bricks, crushed ceramic tiles, waste glass cullet, wood
chips, etc.) in the recycled concrete aggregate, in the some of the current specifications, is low (<1%) due to stringent quality control
standards that are usually taken from specifications for raw granular virgin materials. This paper presents a recent study on the
properties of concrete paving blocks prepared with recycled concrete aggregates that are contaminated by materials (tiles, clay
bricks, glass, wood) commonly found in the construction and demolition waste. The density, compressive strength, tensile splitting
strength, water absorption value, abrasion resistance, skid resistance and some durability parameters were measured for laboratory
prepared samples. The results show that it is feasible to allow a higher level of contamination in the recycled concrete aggregates for
making the concrete products. Recommendations are made on how the specifications could be revised to facilitate a wider applica-
tion of recycled aggregates that is contaminated by foreign materials.
 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Recycled concrete aggregate; Crushed brick; Crushed tile; Crushed waste glass; Wood chips; Concrete products

1. Introduction Although a number of past research studies have already

In Hong Kong, the use of recycled concrete aggregates
for preparing concrete products has been successfully
implemented and gaining wider acceptance. However,
the allowable level of contaminating materials (e.g.,
crushed clay brick, crushed ceramic tile, crushed waste
glass, wood chips, etc.) in the recycled concrete aggre-
gate, in the current specifications, is very low (<1%)
due to stringent quality control standards that are
usually adopted from specifications for raw materials.
This significantly increases the sorting efforts at construc-
tion site and recycling plants and limits the types of
construction waste that can be considered recyclable.
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +852 2766 6024; fax: +852 2334 6389.
E-mail address: cecspoon@polyu.edu.hk (C.-S. Poon).
indicated that certain contaminating materials can be
used as a partial or complete replacement of natural or
recycled aggregates in the production of concrete prod-
ucts, how the properties of the corresponding products
are affected has not been thoroughly studied.
The use of crushed brick in the production of
concrete has been investigated by various researchers
[1–4]. The particles of crushed brick are generally more
porous and have a lower density when compared to
natural and recycled concrete aggregates [5]. It is found
that concrete made with crushed brick generally has
comparable compressive and tensile strengths to those
of conventional concrete. However, the modulus of
elasticity, shrinkage, creep, initial surface absorption
and chloride diffusion are inferior to those of natural
concrete. Poon and Chan [5] studied the use of crushed

0950-0618/$ - see front matter  2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2005.06.031
 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175
clay brick in the production of concrete paving blocks.
It was found that crushed clay brick increased the water
absorption but decreased the density, compressive and
tensile splitting strengths of the paving blocks. On the
other hand, Jones et al. [6] showed that it was feasible,
by adjusting the cement content, to use crushed brick
as a 100% replacement of natural coarse aggregates in
the production of concrete masonry units with the target
strength of 7 MPa. Schuur [7] showed that it was feasible
to use crushed clay brick derived from masonry waste to
entirely replace sand in the mixtures of calcium silicate
products. Furthermore, Moriconi et al. [8] showed that
it was feasible to produce mortar using brick powder
obtained after grinding as a partial replacement of
cement. Ground clay brick was also found to be effective
in minimizing the expansion due to the alkali-silica reac-
tion in concrete [9].
The study on the use of crushed tile as a construction
material is scarce. Khaloo [10] investigated the use of
crushed tile as a source of coarse aggregate in concrete.
The crushed tile had a lower density and a much higher
water absorption value compared to those of natural
crushed stones. The resulting concrete made with
100% crushed tile as the coarse aggregate had a lower
density and higher compressive (+2%), tensile (+70%)
and flexural (+29%) strengths. Ay and Unal [11] studied
the possibility of using ground waste ceramic tile as a
cement replacement in concrete. It was found that
ground waste tile possessed pozzolanic properties and
it was possible to use ground waste tile as a 35% by
weight replacement of cement.
The use of crushed waste glass as a coarse aggregate
in concrete generally decreases the slump, the air content
and the density of fresh concrete [12]. Furthermore, the
compressive and tensile strengths of the concrete also
decrease as the waste glass content increases [12,13].
The detrimental effect of waste glass as a source of
coarse aggregate in concrete can be attributed to its
irregular shape, poor surface characteristics and high
friability [13]. Moreover, if waste glass is used as an
aggregate in concrete, inevitable consideration has to
be taken with respect to the adverse effects of alkali-
silica reactions. Nevertheless, waste glass can be finely
ground and used as a pozzolanic material since it con-
tains a high amount of silica (SiO2). Shayan and Xu
[14] reported that ground waste glass can be used as a
30% replacement of cement to produce concrete with a
satisfactory strength development and an acceptable
drying shrinkage value. Also, the potential deleterious
alkali-silica reaction can be avoided if waste glass is
ground sufficiently [14].
Stahl et al. [15] used waste wood as a partial aggregate
replacement of natural aggregate in the production of
light weight masonry blocks where the wood was sourced
from a local mattress manufacturer. It was found that
the resulting concrete masonry blocks could easily pass
165
the strength requirement for non-loadbearing applica-
tions in accordance with ASTM C129. Naik and Kraus
[16] also reported the feasibility of using wood ash as a
new source of pozzolanic material in concrete where
the wood ash was generated in pulp mills, saw mills
and wood products manufacturers. They tested both
the physical and chemical properties of the wood ash
and suggested that wood ash is suitable to be used in con-
trolled low-strength material (CLSM), low to medium
strength concrete, cast-concrete products (blocks, bricks
and paving stones) or road base materials.
Generally, the perception is that the contamination in
the recycled concrete aggregate is a threat which affects
the qualities of the resulting products [17]. This drasti-
cally limits the types of construction and demolition
(C&D) waste that can be reused as aggregates in new
construction materials. In order to promote the recy-
cling of C&D waste, the allowable contamination level
in the recycled concrete aggregate needs to be increased
while the quality of the resulting products can be main-
tained at an acceptable standard. This paper presents a
recent investigation at the Hong Kong Polytechnic Uni-
versity on producing concrete paving blocks made with
recycled concrete aggregate that is contaminated by
other waste materials. In this study, four types of mate-
rials commonly found in the construction and demoli-
tion waste stream were used as contaminants: (1)
crushed clay brick, (2) crushed tile, (3) crushed waste
glass, and (4) wood chips. These materials were blended
together to replace a maximum of 10% of the recycled
concrete aggregate in the production of the paving
blocks. The density, compressive strength, tensile split-
ting strength, water absorption, skid resistance and
abrasion resistance were determined. The results were
compared with the control paving blocks in which only
recycled concrete aggregate was used as the aggregate.
2. Materials
2.1. Cement
Ordinary Portland cement was used in the production
of the paving blocks. The cement, which was equivalent
to ASTM Type 1 [18], is commercially available in Hong
Kong. The properties of cement are shown in Table 1.
2.2. Recycled concrete aggregate
Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) (Fig. 1) was
obtained from a C&D waste recycling facility in Hong
Kong. The properties of the recycled concrete aggregates
are summarized in Table 2 and the corresponding grad-
ing is shown in Fig. 2. Only the recycled fine (<5 mm)
aggregate was used and the fineness modulus of the
aggregate was 3.05.
166 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175

Table 1
Chemical composition of cement
Properties SiO2 (%) Fe2O3 (%) Al2O3 (%) CaO (%) MgO (%) SO3 (%) LOI (%) Specific Specific surface
mass (g/cm3) area (cm2/g)
19.61 3.32 7.33 63.15 2.54 2.13 2.97 3.16 3520

Fig. 1. Photographs of the recycled concrete aggregate and the contaminants: (a) recycled concrete aggregate, (b) crushed clay brick, (c) crushed tile,
(d) crushed waste glass, and (e) wood chips.

Table 2
Physical properties of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and the contaminants
Properties RCA Tiles (T) Brick (B) Glass (G) Wood (W)
3
Density-SSD (kg/m ) 2310 2199 2042 2590 1316
Density-oven-dry (kg/m3) 2093 1882 1560 2590 518
Water absorption (%) 10.3 16.9 30.9 – 154
Water-soluble sulphate content (%) 0.001 0.16 0.041 0.012 –
 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175
Recylced
concrete
aggregate
Crushed brick
Crushed tile
Recycled
glass
BSI 882
0.1
Sieve Size (mm)
Fig. 2. Grading curves of the recycled concrete aggregate and the contaminants.
2.3. Contamination materials
A clay brick wall sourced from a demolition site in
Hong Kong was delivered to our laboratory for this
study. The partition wall was crushed manually to about
40 mm fragments before feeding them into a crusher to
produce the fine aggregates of 5 mm or less (Fig. 1(b)).
The properties and the grading of the crushed brick
(B) are shown in Table 2 and Fig. 2, respectively. The
grading of the brick particles was similar to the lower
grading limit for the fine aggregate as specified by BS
882 with a fineness modulus of 3.76.
Low-quality ceramic tiles were purchased in Hong
Kong prior to the study. The dimensions of the tiles
were 150 · 150 mm with a thickness of about 3 mm.
The size of the tiles was reduced using a hammer before
feeding the broken pieces into the crusher to produce the
fine aggregate (Fig. 1(c)). The properties and the grading
of the crushed tiles (T) are shown in Table 2 and Fig. 2,
respectively. Similarly, the grading of the crushed tile
particles closely resembled the lower grading limit for
the fine aggregate as specified by BS 882 and its fineness
modulus was 3.78.
As it was difficult to separately collect waste glass
derived from construction sites for the study, post-
consumed beverage bottles (green in color) collected
from commercial sources were used instead. They were
washed and crushed into the fine aggregate (Fig. 1(d))
by a contractor before delivering to our laboratory.
The properties and the grading are summarized in
Table 2 and Fig. 2, respectively. The grading of the
crushed waste glass particles did not satisfy the grad-
ing limit for fine aggregates as specified by BS 882
where about 80% of the particles were retained on
167
120
100
80
Percent Passing (%)
60
40
20
0
1 10
the 1.18 mm sieve. The corresponding fineness modu-
lus was 4.35.
Typical timber and wood waste collected from con-
struction sites was crushed using the crusher in the lab-
oratory. The particles of the crushed wood residue were
flaky and of elongated shape (Fig. 1(e)). The properties
of the wood chips (W) are summarized in Table 2.
3. Mixing ratios
Two series of mixes were prepared and identical
materials were employed in each of the series. The only
difference between the mixtures in the two series was the
aggregate-to-cement (A/C) ratio where A/C ratios of 3:1
and 4:1 were used in Series I and II, respectively. In each
series, a total of six mixes were prepared. The first mix
used 100% recycled concrete aggregate to serve as the
control. 10% of the recycled concrete aggregate was
replaced by crushed tile in the second mix (10T). The
third (5T5G) and fourth (5T5B) mixes incorporated a
blend of crushed tile and waste glass, and crushed tile
and crushed brick, respectively. The fifth (4B4G2T)
mix used crushed tile, crushed brick and waste glass as
the contaminations. Finally, the sixth (4B4G2T + W)
mix contained crushed brick, crushed waste glass,
crushed tile and a small amount of wood chips. The mix-
ing ratios for the mixes are shown in Tables 3 and 4. In
each mix notation, the numerical value in front of each
letter indicates the percentage by weight of total aggre-
gates of each contamination. For example, 4B4G2T
represents the mix contains 4%, 4% and 2%, by weight
of the total amount of aggregates, of crushed clay brick,
waste glass and crushed tile, respectively.
168 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175

Table 3
Mix ratio by weight for the mixtures in Series I (A/C = 3)
Mixture name Mixing ratio
RCA T B G Total aggregate Cement Added water
Control 3 – – – 3 1 0.41
10T 2.7 0.3 – – 3 1 0.49
5T5G 2.7 0.15 – 0.15 3 1 0.47
5T5B 2.7 0.15 0.15 – 3 1 0.49
4B4G2T 2.7 0.06 0.12 0.12 3 1 0.49
4B4G2T + Wa 2.7 0.06 0.12 0.12 3 1 0.50
a
Wood chips of 0.45% by weight of the total aggregate was added to the mixture.

Table 4
Mix ratio by weight for the mixtures in Series II (A/C = 4)
Mixture name Mixing ratio
RCA T B G Total aggregate Cement Added water
Control 4 – – – 4 1 0.53
10T 3.6 0.40 – – 4 1 0.64
5T5G 3.6 0.20 – 0.20 4 1 0.60
5T5B 3.6 0.20 0.20 – 4 1 0.63
2T4B4G 3.6 0.08 0.16 0.16 4 1 0.62
2T4B4G + Wa 3.6 0.08 0.16 0.16 4 1 0.64
a
Wood chips of 0.45% by weight of the total aggregate was added to the mixture.

4. Mixing procedure
Initially, the aggregates (without pre-soaked) and
cement were mixed in a pan mixer for approximately 3
min. After mixing for 3 min, water was added to the
materials. The procedure of mixing and adding water
was iterated until the desired moisture content (when a
water film could be seen on the surface of the aggregate
particles) for these dry mixes was obtained. Normally,
workability is not important for molded blocks and only
a small amount of water is required. However, in the
case of the inclusion of the crushed clay brick, crushed
tile and wood chips (with high water absorption values)
in the mixes, the amount of added water required would
be higher. In contrast, the incorporation of waste glass
slightly reduced the added water since the water absorp-
tion of waste glass is negligible.
5. Fabrications of paving blocks
The paving blocks were fabricated in steel moulds
with internal dimensions of 200 mm long, 100 mm wide,
and 60 mm high. The mix was poured into the mould in
three layers of about equal depth. After each of the first
two layers was poured, compaction was applied manu-
ally using a hammer and a wood stem. After the third
layer was poured, a compressive force at a rate of 600
kN/min was applied for about 50 s to mechanically com-
pact the mix within the mould. Excess materials were
then removed with a trowel. Finally, a compaction force
was applied at the same rate for 60 s. The fabricated
blocks, in the steel moulds, were covered by a plastic
sheet and left at room temperature and relative humidity
of about 50%. The paving blocks were then demoulded
one day after casting and were cured in water until
tested.
6. Test methods
A range of tests were carried out to determine the
density, water absorption, 7-day and 28-day compres-
sive strengths, tensile splitting strength, skid resistance
and abrasion resistance of the block specimens.
The density of paving blocks was determined using a
water displacement method as per BS 1881 Part 114 for
hardened concrete [19]. Water absorption values were
determined in accordance with AS/NZS 4456.14 [20]
and were expressed as a ratio of the mass of the absor-
bed water of an immersed specimen to the oven dried
mass of the same specimen. The absorbed water was
measured after immersing the block specimens in water
at room temperature for 24 h.
The compressive strength was determined using a
compressive testing machine with a maximum capacity
of 3000 kN. The load, increased at a rate of 400 kN/
min, was applied to the nominal area of paving blocks.
Prior to the loading test, the paving blocks were soft
capped with two pieces of plywood. The compressive
strength was calculated by dividing the failure load by
the loading area of the paving blocks.
 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175
The tensile splitting strength was determined in
accordance with BS 6717 [21]. The test was carried out
along the longest splitting section (i.e., the length) of
the block specimen. Prior to the test, the block specimen
was concentrically packed with two steel packing pieces
on the top and bottom faces in contact with the platens
of the loading machine. A load was then gradually
applied at a constant rate of 9 kN/min. The test was ter-
minated when the specimen split into two halves. The
failure load was recorded and the tensile splitting
strength was calculated based on the failure load.
The skid resistance of paving blocks was determined
using a British Pendulum Skid Resistance Tester and it
was expressed as the measured British Pendulum
Number (BPN) as per BS 6717. The abrasion resistance
was determined by abrading the surface of the block
specimen with an abrasive material under controlled
conditions as specified by BS 6717. The dimension of
the groove resulting from the abrasive action was used
to measure the abrasion resistance of paving blocks; a
smaller groove indicated a better resistance to abrasion.
7. Results and discussions
The densities of the paving blocks are shown in
Fig. 3. The presented value is the average of three mea-
surements. The control paving blocks had the highest
density compared to the contaminated paving blocks.
In general, the contaminated paving blocks showed an
average 5% decrease in density. Furthermore, the den-
sity of the paving blocks with an A/C ratio of 3 was
slightly higher than that of the paving blocks prepared
with an A/C ratio of 4. It was attributed the relatively
2350
2323
2303
2300
2250
Density (kg/m3)
2199
2200
2150
2100
2050
Control
Fig. 3. Densities of the paving blocks in Series I and II.
169
higher volume of the cement that was used which was
able to fill up the voids within the concrete mixture.
The 7-day compressive strengths of the paving blocks
with A/C ratios of 3 and 4 are shown in Fig. 4. The pre-
sented value is an average of two measurements. The
control paving blocks had the highest compressive
strength compared to that of the contaminated paving
blocks. For the paving blocks prepared with an A/C
ratio of 3, the 7-day strength was at least 50 MPa with
the exception of the paving blocks in which wood chips
were added. On the other hand, the 7-day compressive
strength was at least 42 MPa for the paving blocks with
an A/C ratio of 4.
The 28-day compressive strengths of the paving
blocks with A/C ratios of 3 and 4 are shown in Fig. 5
and the corresponding relative strength is shown in
Fig. 6. The presented value is the average of three mea-
surements. Similarly, the control paving blocks had the
highest 28-day strength in both Series I and II. For
the mixtures with an A/C ratio of 3, the strengths of
the contaminated paving blocks were between 71.5%
and 82.3% of the control paving block. The 28-day
strengths of the contaminated paving blocks without
wood chips had relatively uniform strengths ranging
from 62.4 to 66.2 MPa or 77.5–82.3% of the control pav-
ing blocks. For the mixtures with an A/C ratio of 4, the
strengths of the contaminated paving blocks were be-
tween 79.2% and 94.5% of the control paving blocks.
As with the mixes prepared with an A/C ratio of 3,
the incorporation of wood chips significantly reduced
the compressive strength of the paving blocks prepared
with an A/C ratio of 4. The adverse effect of the incor-
poration of wood chips can be explained by the incom-
patibility between wood and cement which reduced the
A/C=3 A/C=4
2218
2206 2205
2197 2196 2196
2189
2172 2178
10T 5T5G 5T5B 4B4G2T 4B4G2T+W
Mixture Name
170 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175

80
71.7 A/C=3 A/C=4
70
62.0

7- dayCompressive strength (MPa)

59.0
60 55.8
51.5 51.8 50.1
48.1 49.4
50 45.9
44.2
42.2
40

30

20

10

0
Control 10T 5T5G 5T5B 4B4G2T 4B4G2T+W
Mixture Name

Fig. 4. 7-day strengths of the paving blocks in Series I and II.

90
80.5
80 A/C=3 A/C=4
28-day Compressive Strength (MPa)

70 64.5 65.6 66.2

62.4 62.4
60.9
60 56.8 57.5
54.5 54.9
51.0
50

40

30

20

10

0
Control 10T 5T5G 5T5B 4B4G2T 4B4G2T+W
Mixture Name

Fig. 5. 28-day strengths of the paving blocks in Series I and II.

strength and hydration rate of cement and impeded the tio of 3 except the mixture 4B4G2T + W satisfied the
formation of a good bond between the two materials strength requirements stipulated by all the countries.
[22,23]. Therefore, the compressive strengths at 28 days Nevertheless, all the mixes regardless of the A/C ratio
of mix 4B4G2T + W in both series were relatively lower met the strength requirements specified in Hong Kong.
than the compressive strengths of mix 4B4G2T in which The tensile splitting strengths of the paving blocks
the same amount of crushed brick, crushed tile and with A/C ratios of 3 and 4 are shown in Fig. 8. The pre-
crushed waste glass were added. Furthermore, the rela- sented value is the average of two measurements. For
tionship between the density and the compressive the mixes with either A/C ratios of 3 or 4, the tensile
strength (Fig. 7) shows a typical trend where the com- splitting strength of mixes 10T and 5T5B were higher
pressive strength of the paving blocks increased with than that of the control. Since the tensile splitting
an increase in density. Table 5 summaries the strength strength is mainly governed by the properties of the
requirements for the paving blocks in various countries interfacial transition zone (ITZ), the improvement of
[24,25]. It can be seen that all the mixes with an A/C ra- the ITZ can be attributed to two main reasons: firstly,
 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175 171

120

A/C=3 A/C=4
100
100 94.5
88.2
84.6 85.1
Relative Strength (%)
81.5 82.3
80 77.5 77.6 79.2
71.5

60

40

20

0
Control 10T 5T5G 5T5B 4B4G2T 4B4G2T+W
Mixture Name

Fig. 6. Relative compressive strengths of the paving blocks at 28 days.

90

80

70
Compressive strength (MPa)

60

50 y = 0.1314x - 229.54
R2 = 0.6589
40

30

20

10

0
2160 2180 2200 2220 2240 2260 2280 2300 2320 2340
Density (kg/m3)

Fig. 7. Relationship between density and 28-day compressive strength.

the high water absorbability of the particles of crushed On the other hand, the tensile strength of the paving
clay brick and crushed tile allowed a better penetration blocks in which crushed waste glass was used as one of
of the cement paste, thus increasing the bonding the contaminations (mixtures 5T5G and 4B4G2T) was
strength, secondly, the lower particle density of crushed comparable to that of the control paving blocks. This
brick and crushed tile compared to that of recycled is explained by the relatively poor bonding between
concrete aggregate represented a higher volume of fine the crushed waste glass and cement paste being compen-
particles in the mixture when recycled concrete aggre- sated for by the beneficial effect from the good bonding
gate was replaced by either crushed clay brick or between the crushed clay brick or crushed tile. Further-
crushed tile. The finer particles of crushed clay brick more, the grading and particle density of the crushed
and crushed tile may fill the voids and reduce the waste glass used in this study were relatively coarser
porosity at the interface. Hence, an enhancement in and higher compared to those of recycled concrete
the properties of the ITZ was achieved. aggregate, and hence the overall volume of fine
172 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175

Table 5
Strength requirements of the paving blocks in various countries [24,25]
Countries
United States
United Kingdoma
Norway
New Zealand
Japan
Italy
Germany
Denmark
Canada
Belgium
Australia
Hong Kong
a
A tensile splitting strength of 3.9 MPa is suggested [21].
aggregates in the mixes was reduced. Nevertheless, the
decrease in the volume of fine aggregates was counter-
acted by an increase in the fine aggregate when crushed
clay brick or crushed tile were used. Therefore, the over-
all net effect became negligible. Moreover, the detrimen-
tal effect of the addition of wood chips (comparison
between mixes 4B4G2T and 4B4G2T = W) was more
pronounced in the tensile splitting strength than in the
compressive strength. The decrease in the compressive
strength was 13% and 7% for mixes with A/C ratios of
3 and 4, respectively. However, the incorporation of
the wood chips reduced the tensile splitting strength by
29% and 38% for the mixes with A/C ratios of 3 and
4, respectively. This further revealed the poor bonding
between wood and cement paste.
The water absorption results shown in Fig. 9 are the
average of two measurements. It is clear that the control
paving block had the lowest water absorption value. The
water absorption of the mixes with an A/C ratio of 4
was higher than those of the mixes with an A/C ratio
of 3. This can be attributed to the higher aggregate con-
Compressive strength (MPa) tent for the former mixes. A comparison between the
55 mixes 5T5G and 5T5B shows that the water absorption
49 of the latter was lower. Although crushed waste glass
54 particles had a zero water absorption value (whereas
40
59
crushed clay brick particle had a water absorption value
50 of 30.9%), the coarse particle size of crushed waste glass,
60 used in this study, created a lot of voids within the mixes
52 which led to a high water absorption value. A compar-
50 ison between mixes 4B4G2Tand 4B4G2T + W shows
60
43
that the addition of wood chips significantly increased
45 (Characteristic strength) the water absorption of the paving blocks. The corres-
ponding increase was 30.6% and 13.7% for the mixes
with A/C ratios of 3 and 4, respectively. Fig. 10 shows
the relationship between the density and the water
absorption values of the paving blocks. The water
absorption decreased with an increase in the density.
The skid and abrasion resistances of the paving
blocks in Series I and II are shown in Figs. 11 and 12,
respectively. In general, the skid resistance was higher
for the contaminated paving blocks. It was mainly due
to the rough surface texture of the contaminating parti-
cles. On the other hand, the abrasion resistance was
higher for the paving blocks with a lower A/C ratio. This
agrees with the results of others [26] the ability of con-
crete to withstand abrasion improves with an increase
in the concrete strength. A skid resistance of at least
45 BPN and an abrasion resistance less than 23 mm
are the performance specifications for the paving blocks
in Hong Kong, these being adopted from BS 6717. The
results indicated that all the contaminated paving blocks
satisfied the above specifications.
In this study, the potential expansion due to the
alkali-silica reaction was not investigated since the glass

4.5
4.09 A/C=3 A/C=4
4.0 3.80 3.82 3.72
3.75 3.66 3.71
3.58
Splitting Tensile Strength (MPa)

3.49
3.5 3.39

3.0
2.64
2.5
2.21

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
Control 10T 5T5G 5T5B 4B4G2T 4B4G2T+W
Mixture Name

Fig. 8. Tensile splitting strengths of the paving blocks in Series I and II.
 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175 173

12
A/C=3 A/C=4 10.8

10 9.5 9.4
9.0
8.6 8.6
7.8 8.0
8
Water absorption (%)
7.5
7.0 7.2

6 5.3

0
Control 10T 5T5G 5T5B 4B4G2T 4B4G2T+W
Mixture Name

Fig. 9. Water absorption values for the paving blocks in Series I and II.

12

10
Water absorption (%)

6
y = -0.0243x + 61.965
R2 = 0.6592
4

0
2160 2180 2200 2220 2240 2260 2280 2300 2320 2340
Density (kg/m3)

Fig. 10. Relationship between density and the water absorption.

content was low (65% by mass of the total aggregate) in
the prepared concrete mixes. However, if the contami-
nating materials contain a high amount of waste glass,
the magnitude of the deleterious expansive reaction
needs to be determined or other preventive measures
have to be taken (i.e., addition of mineral admixture)
in order to minimize the potential expansion.
8. Recommendations
The results of this study reveal a possible increase in
the allowable contamination level in recycled concrete
aggregate in the production of paving blocks. Although
the requirements for paving blocks are somewhat differ-
ent in different countries, it is possible to meet the
standards by adjusting the A/C ratio or with the use
of additional cementitious materials such as fly ash in
the mixes (the effect of fly ash on the performances of
paving blocks has been reported separately [5]). Never-
theless, the variability in the qualities of the contamina-
tions is large and only one source was used for each
contamination type in this study. Different types and
strength of the partition brick wall, different quality of
the ceramic tiles and different types and colors of glasses
would influence the properties of the blocks produced.
Furthermore, if the waste glass content in the mix
increases, addition of mineral admixtures (i.e., fly ash
174 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175

120 A/C=3 A/C=4

111 109
107
99
100 95
91
81 83 84
Skid Resistance (BPN)
79
80 75
73

60

40

20

0
Control 10T 5T5G 5T5B 4B4G2T 4B4G2T+W
Mixture Name

Fig. 11. Skid resistance values of the paving blocks in Series I and II.

30
A/C=3 A/C=4

25
22.5
21.8 21.2
Abrasion Resistance (mm)

20.3 20.2 20.3

20.0
20 19.4 19.6
18.8 19.0
18.5

15

10

0
Control 10T 5T5G 5T5B 4B4G2T 4B4G2T+W
Mixture Name

Fig. 12. Abrasion resistance values for the paving blocks in Series I and II.

or silica fume) is required in the mix as these cementi- produced paving blocks was studied. Four types of
tious materials are able to mitigate the potential alkali- C&D waste materials were used as the contaminations:
silica reaction [26]. Also, the high water absorption (1) crushed clay brick, (2) crushed tile, (3) crushed waste
value of the contaminated paving blocks would cause glass, and (4) wood chips. These materials were blended
a concern for countries where freezing and thawing do to replace 10% of the recycled concrete aggregate in the
occur. Therefore, more research efforts are required in production of the paving blocks. Based on the results of
the future to determine the influence of the variability this study, the following conclusions can be drawn:
of the contaminations on the properties and durability
of the concrete products. 1. There was an average of 5% decrease in the density
of the paving blocks in which contaminations were
incorporated.
9. Conclusions 2. For paving blocks with an A/C ratio of 3, the
28-day compressive strengths of the contaminated
In this study, the influence of the contaminations in paving blocks were between 71.5% and 82.3% of
recycled concrete aggregate on the properties of the the control paving block where only pure recycled
 C.-S. Poon, D. Chan / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 164–175
concrete aggregate was used. Similarly, for the
paving blocks with an A/C ratio of 4, the 28-day
compressive strengths of the contaminated paving
blocks were between 79.2% and 94.5% of the control
paving blocks.
3. The compressive strength increased with a decreas-
ing A/C ratio.
4. The compressive strength increased with an increase
in the density.
5. The paving blocks with an A/C ratio of 3, with the
exception of the one with wood chips, met the com-
pressive strength requirements stipulated by all the
countries listed in Table 5.
6. The use of crushed clay brick and crushed tile
improved the tensile splitting strength. However,
the beneficial effect could be offset if crushed waste
glass was incorporated since the bonding between
waste glass particles and cement paste was relatively
poor.
7. The addition of wood chips significantly reduced the
splitting tensile strength.
8. The water absorption of the paving blocks increased
with an increase in the A/C ratio.
9. The water absorption of the contaminated paving
blocks was higher than that of the control paving
blocks. The addition of wood chips significantly
increased the water absorption.
10. The water absorption of the paving blocks decreased
with an increase in the density.
11. The skid and abrasion resistances of all the paving
blocks performed satisfactorily.
12. An allowable contamination level in the recycled
concrete aggregate can be increased from 1% to a
maximum of 10% in the production of paving
blocks.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Environment and Conservation
Fund, the Woo Wheelock Green Fund, and the Hong
Kong Polytechnic University for financial support.
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