National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

Project description

Concrete materials are present in almost all types of transportation infrastructure including roads, bridges, and airports. As such, concrete is an essential component of the transportation infrastructure. Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are a key ingredient of modern concrete. SCMs improves the durability (e.g., decreases permeability and help mitigate deleterious reactions) and mechanical properties of concrete and significantly reduces its carbon footprint by reducing the utilization of clinker. In recent years, the decline in coal-fired power generation in the U.S. jeopardizes the wide availability of fly ash for concrete production. Since fly ash is vastly the most utilized supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in the US, there is an urgent need to find alternative sources of SCMs that can provide with a portfolio of alternatives. As a response to the expected shortage of fly ash, the objective of this project is to evaluate the much-needed alternative sources of SCMs which can include unconventional sources of fly ash (i.e., landfilled and impounded fly ash), natural pozzolans, and calcined clays to provide with high-quality, cost-effective, and readily-available SCM alternatives for the future of concrete production in Region 6.