© The Geological Society of London 2006 1 Performance of concrete produced with crushed bricks as the coarse and fine aggregate

Abstract: During the last decades, in most industry countries, a large number of old buildings has been demolished and million tons of construction demolition waste have been produced. Demolition waste around the cities not only is a serious threat to the environment and underground water sanitation, but results in unpleasant landscapes. At present approximately 5 % of bricks taken from demolition sites are being separated and recycled, while the proportion of concrete being recycled is up around 90%. This low rate of brick recycling is due to a lack of research into the performance of crushed brick material in applications such as concrete aggregate and road base. On the other hand, the low quality of crushed brick such as high water absorption and low strength in comparison with rock makes it difficult to meet concrete specifications. The importance of recycling brick cannot be overemphasized, since clinker bricks make up a large portion of construction and demolition waste. Considering the environmental impacts, construction and demolition waste threatens the health and safety of large and developed cities. The investigations showed that, when properly organized, masonry clay bricks could be crushed, sieved and used as economically as aggregate to produce concrete products. This research aims to examine a procedure to utilize clinker bricks in concrete and reproduce concret