With the new SR-99 tunnel now open for business and ferrying north and southbound traffic beneath the waterfront district of Seattle, demolition of the Alaskan Way Viaduct has also commenced. The years-long tunnel project was meant to replace the structurally-unsound viaduct, and now that it is completed, construction crews have turned their attention to taking apart the elevated stretch of highway. This process will create a vast quantity of rubble and debris, and city officials have designated the Battery Street Tunnel, which is slated to be decommissioned after the viaduct’s demolition, for its resting place. Many cities and construction contractors face the challenge of disposing of the various steel, glass, asphalt and concrete detritus left in the wake of demolition, but resourceful
commercial concrete contractors Seattle is home to know there are several uses for the old concrete from these sites. Recycled concrete can be a versatile and inexpensive building material on projects big and small.
How to recycle concrete
When large buildings and other structures with concrete elements are demolished, there are several ways to recover the reusable concrete. Generally, the concrete debris is collected and processed by industrial crushing equipment on the site. Once the larger pieces of concrete are broken up, they are processed again by an impactor and then passed through a sieving apparatus that removes unwanted particles and separates large and small aggregate. This material can be further processed with magnets or through water flotation to extract specific elements or byproducts, such as steel, from the now-crushed concrete material. By recycling concrete in this way, contractors can divert significant amounts of construction waste from city landfills and even save some money. In addition to circumventing disposal fees, if contractors plan to use the recycled concrete on new construction nearby or on the demolition site itself, they can also avoid the costs of hauling the waste out or mining and transporting in new materials like gravel.
Popular uses for recycled concrete
Recycled concrete has many applications and, in some circumstances, has the additional benefit of tallying up some
LEED Green Building points for builders seeking that certification. The crushed concrete can be used instead of virgin aggregate in concrete mixes for many concrete applications, with some engineers even experimenting with its use in
shotcrete. Old concrete pavement can be broken up in place, or rubbelized, to act as the base for new asphalt paving, and recycled concrete can be an inexpensive substitute for gravel. As a gravel replacement, it can be used to create permeable paving for walkways and other outdoor surfaces or as a water mitigation aid around foundations and retaining walls, all of which are particularly beneficial in the rainy climate of
Seattle.
