Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 29 (2017) 301
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Editorial
Civil infrastructure – the set of interconnected structural ele-
ments such as roads, water supply, sewers, electrical grids,
telecommunications networks, and the built infrastructure of
domestic, commercial and public buildings – is the foundation of
a community’s health, safety and prosperity. Unfortunately, most
countries around the world are experiencing a rapid loss of service-
ability and safety in their concrete infrastructure. This is primarily
due to a combination of improper maintenance and important
compounding factors, including:
1. the use of non-durable construction materials;
2. exposure to aggressive environments;
3. poor construction practices;
4. increases in the design loads; and
5. global climate change.
The latter is accelerating carbonation-induced corrosion as a
result of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, severe
cracking due to increased thermal stresses, and extensive founda-
tion scour due to rising water levels.
Concrete is literally a building block of communities and their
economic development, both in new construction activities and
in strengthening existing structures. However, there are key con-
cerns with the continued use of cement as a main ingredient in
concrete. A grave concern is that cement production is an environ-
mentally damaging process that generates 5–7% of global carbon
dioxide emissions. Nevertheless, the global demand for cement is
expected to increase from 3.2 billion tons today to over 6.0 billion
tons by 2025. Consequentially, the global construction industry is
under pressure to dramatically reduce its carbon dioxide emis-
sions. Significant research has been directed at replacing cement
with industrial by-products that have ‘‘cement-like” characteristics
such as flyash, silica fume, blast furnace slag, non-ferrous slags, and
metakaolin.
A large portion of the GHG footprint of concrete also emanates
from use of aggregates as filler and stabilizers that require quarry-
ing, transportation and remediation. Here, a great opportunity
exists to use alternate aggregates that are eco-friendly and less
damaging to the environment. One clear choice is the Recycled
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Concrete Aggregate (RCA) that is derived from old concrete stem-
ming from demolition sites. USA alone produces 325 million tons
of waste concrete each year; however, less than five percent is
recycled in new concrete as RCA. Unfortunately, the attached high
porosity mortar on the surface of RCA results in poor bond, inferior
transport properties and a consequential loss of durability and
strength. Furthermore, RCAs may introduce a number of contami-
nants that can harm concrete. Significant progress has been made
in this regard and innovative cleaning and treatment processes
including ultrasonics, controlled agitation, acid leaching, nano-
impregnation, carbonation, etc. have been developed. In this vol-
ume two such papers are introduced.
The low tensile capacity of concrete necessitates the use of a
high tensile strength reinforcement to produce a viable structural
system. In this regard, natural, low-carbon reinforcements such
as bamboo are promising and indeed require a second look. World
produced over 400 million tons of high quality bamboo and apart
from their use as biomass, their use in structures is both promising
and sensible. The papers in this Special Publication on bamboo
reinforcement are a testament to the potential of bamboo as frugal,
natural reinforcement.
Finally, fiber reinforcement of concrete is gaining significant
importance lately. In this context, the use of Self-Compacting Ultra
High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SC-UHPFRC) is grow-
ing rapidly. However, the mechanical properties of such concrete
are highly dependent on factors such as the type of cementitious
materials, curing conditions, size of aggregates, rate of loading,
specimen shape and size, and type of steel fibers that are used in
volume fractions exceeding 2%. To achieve such a high strength
material, a low water-to-binder ratio is applied with ultra-fine
admixtures and heat treatment at 90 °C. Much research is currently
underway to fully understand and optimize UHPFRC and this Spe-
cial Volume presents some such work.
Nemkumar Banthia
Department of Civil Engineering, The University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4, Canada