The use of granite by-products deriving from tunneling excavations for road construction purposes

Rombi J;CONI, MAURO;PORTAS, SILVIA;Pistis S.

2012-01-01

---

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to verify the possibility of using granite by-products deriving from tunnel excavations for road construction purposes. This case study refers to the granite deriving from tunnels excavated on the south east coast on the island of Sardinia (Fig.1). The granite by-products were produced using Drilling and Blasting (D&B) and Tunnel and Boring Machine (TBM) excavation techniques. Two potential applications of granite by-products road sub-base and soil-cement mixtures for base layers were studied. The test results indicated that physical and mechanical properties of recycled aggregates are suitable for road base and sub-base, also the compressive strength tests conducted on the soil-cement mixture were in the limits imposed by the specifications using low percentages (2-3 %) of Portland cement.