Ultra durable concrete for sustainable construction

Abstract

With the rapid consumption of natural resources, there is a growing concern about sustainable development. More than 6 billion tons of concrete are produced annually for various construction purposes with limited life expectancy. In addition, increasing cost of construction and demolition of concrete structures in densely populated areas is a great concern for the future. One of the best solutions to tackle these challenges is to increase the life expectancy of the structures. Residential structures and important civil structures are typically designed for a life span of 50 and 100 years respectively. However, the life expectancy of structures can be increased to several hundred years with careful planning and proper design. Cost of the concrete materials is not a considerable amount compared to the total cost for construction of reinforced concrete structures. Doubling the concrete materials cost may only increase the total construction cost by few percent but it can increase the life expectancy of structures significantly. In this work, a comparison between ultra durable concrete mixes with normal high strength concrete in terms of cost, mechanical and durability aspects is presented. Ultra durable concrete has superior qualities which makes it a favourable construction material for future structures.