Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85655
by Tina Grady Barbaccia, News and Digital Editor Agg For daily news updates and web-exclusive news items, visit the "AggBeat Online" section of our website at www.aggman.com ALL THE TOILETS GO? Where Did Public works department develops spec using recycled aggregate, which allows for construction waste — including toilets. Recycling has reached a new level for the transportation con- struction industry. The Public Works Department of the city of Bellingham, Wash., pushed the limits of recycled materials use with a street project that included 400 old toilets incorporated into concrete. The Public Works Department developed a specification using recycled aggregate, which allows for the use of recycled brick, concrete, tile, toilets, and other similar types of construction waste. "We did it because it was the right thing — and it was fun," Anthony Freeman, P.E., project engineer for Bellingham, tells Aggregates Manager. "We got to play mad scientist. I think it [this project] really speaks about local partnerships, though." Freeman said the city was actively looking at using recycled concrete on the sidewalks. "Now, we have a spec that allows the city to do that," Freeman says. "We are not only using toilets, but looking into capturing a bigger waste stream. There is not a huge market for recycled concrete, but we are going to enhance the market for it." The city's recent work on a recycled concrete aggregate spec for flatwork (curb, gutter, sidewalk, and driveway) con- crete served as the foundation for the creation of "Poticrete," Freeman says. The new spec — and Poticrete — meet a goal to reduce the use of virgin materials and to improve the regional market for crushed concrete, he says. When Freeman received a call in February 2011 from Sustainable Connections, a local non-profit with both waste- reduction and green-building initiatives, he was asked if the could find a place in a city project for 400 high-flow toilets from a federally funded housing retrofit project. The city worked with the retrofit contractor and Cowden Gravel and Ready Mix to collect and crush the porcelain, then mix the aggregate in a few different batches for testing, Freeman says. Eventually Cowden determined the best mix included about 20 percent porcelain by volume, and the city set about incorpo- rating 40 cubic yards of Poticrete into a street project, Freeman says. The final product met all requirements for sidewalks, drive- ways, and curb/gutter installations. Although this type of project does decrease the need for virgin aggregate, it's not going to economically hurt aggregates opera- tions, Freeman says. "We'll always need our local aggregate suppliers for high-strength virgin aggregate," he says. "But for applications that don't take extensive structural loads, why not use recycled concrete? It's also a developing market that our ag- gregate and concrete suppliers can be part of." The Meador/Kansas/Ellis trail project, in Bellingham, Wash., includes an asphalt overlay, new sidewalks, new curb and gut- ter, landscaping, storm water management, and several regional sidewalk and trail connections. A key intersection of two trails and three sidewalks provided a showcase location. The city installed 2,100 square feet of Poticrete along with a decorative band and educational plaque that provides public information on the city's The Public Works Department of the city of Bellingham, Wash., pushed the limits of recycled materials use with a street project that included 400 old toilets incorporated into concrete. AGGREGATES MANAGER July 2012 5