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  4. Re:Crete – Reuse of concrete blocks from cast-in-place building to arch footbridge
 
research article

Re:Crete – Reuse of concrete blocks from cast-in-place building to arch footbridge

Devènes, Julie Rachel  
•
Brütting, Jan  
•
Küpfer, Célia Marine  
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September 1, 2022
Structures

About 9% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions worldwide are due to the production of cement, key constituent of concrete. Concrete also contributes to a large share of demolition waste, usually coming from building structures that are discarded because of functional obsolescence rather than of technical deficiency. Current practice for treating end-of-life concrete is to landfill it or crush it into aggregates used in new concrete mixes. Instead, a little-explored strategy consists in extending the service life of concrete elements by reusing them in new constructions. Following this paradigm, this paper presents a proof-of-concept prototype that reuses blocks cut out of obsolete cast-in-place concrete walls for a new structural application: a 10 m-long post-tensioned segmented arch footbridge. The paper details the design, material sourcing, and construction processes while highlighting the unusual features of the approach. The structural behavior is verified with a finite element analysis model and validated by load testing. A comparative life cycle assessment shows that the arch construction presents a significantly lower global warming potential then recycled concrete (−71%) or steel (−74%) alternatives and is very competitive to a timber one (+9%). In conclusion, the project proves the feasibility of a new circular economy application for the construction industry, in which new and reliable concrete structures are built with little to no cement inputs.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1016/j.istruc.2022.07.012
Author(s)
Devènes, Julie Rachel  
Brütting, Jan  
Küpfer, Célia Marine  
Bastien Masse, Maléna  
Fivet, Corentin  
Date Issued

2022-09-01

Published in
Structures
Volume

43

Start page

1854

End page

1867

Subjects

Reuse

•

Concrete

•

Existing Structures

•

Footbridge

•

Arch

•

Structural Design

•

Life Cycle Assessment

•

Circular Economy

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
SXL  
Available on Infoscience
August 17, 2022
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/190148
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