Utilizing Industrial and Agricultural Byproducts in Pavement and Structural Engineering: Mechanical and Environmental Impacts
Main Article Content
Abstract
The construction sector faces escalating pressure to reduce embodied carbon and transition toward circular material systems as cement and asphalt production remain major contributors to global emissions and energy consumption. This study investigates the mechanical, durability, and environmental performance of mixtures incorporating industrial byproducts (fly ash, GGBFS, steel slag), agricultural ashes (rice husk ash, bagasse ash), and their hybrid combinations across both structural concrete and asphalt pavement applications. A unified experimental framework was implemented to characterize strength development, stiffness, rutting resistance, permeability, sulfate durability, freeze–thaw stability, and cradle-to-gate environmental impacts.Results show that hybrid SCM systems consistently outperform single-source industrial or agricultural blends. In concrete, hybrid mixtures demonstrated superior early-age reactivity and long-term strength, achieving the highest 90-day compressive strengths through complementary hydration and pore refinement mechanisms. In asphalt mixtures, hybrid fillers (steel slag + RHA) produced the greatest stiffness and rutting resistance, confirming synergistic mastic enhancement. Durability assessments revealed the most balanced performance in hybrid systems, with significant improvements in chloride resistance, sulfate stability, and freeze–thaw resilience. Life-cycle assessment outcomes further identified hybrid binders as the most eco-efficient solutions, achieving 30–48% reductions in global warming potential without compromising mechanical or durability performance. Overall, the findings establish hybrid industrial–agricultural byproducts as technically robust, low-carbon alternatives capable of enhancing both concrete and asphalt performance while contributing to sustainable infrastructure development.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Environment, U. N., Scrivener, K. L., John, V. M., & Gartner, E. M. (2018). Eco-efficient cements: Potential economically viable solutions for a low-CO2 cement-based materials industry. Cement and Concrete Research, 114, 2–26.
Andrew, R. M. (2018). Global CO2 emissions from cement production. Earth System Science Data, 10(1), 195–217.
d'Angelo, J., Harm, E., Bartoszek, J., Baumgardner, G., Corrigan, M., Cowsert, J., ... & Yeaton, B. (2008). Warm-mix asphalt: European practice (No. FHWA-PL-08-007). United States Federal Highway Administration, Office of International Programs.
Zaumanis, M., & Mallick, R. B. (2015). Review of very high-content reclaimed asphalt use in plant-produced pavements: state of the art. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 16(1), 39–55.
Thomas, M. D. A. (2007). Optimizing the use of fly ash in concrete (Vol. 5420, pp. 1–24). Skokie, IL, USA: Portland Cement Association.
Juenger, M. C., & Siddique, R. (2015). Recent advances in understanding the role of supplementary cementitious materials in concrete. Cement and Concrete Research, 78, 71–80.
Shi, C., Qian, J., & Li, Y. (2020). Steel slag as a cementitious material: Research progress and challenges. Cement and Concrete Research.
Zhang, M. H., & Malhotra, V. M. (1996). High-performance concrete incorporating rice husk ash as a supplementary cementing material. ACI Materials Journal, 93, 629–636.
Turner, L. K., & Collins, F. G. (2013). Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) emissions: A comparison between geopolymer and OPC cement concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 43, 125–130.
Haha, M. B., Lothenbach, B., Le Saout, G. L., & Winnefeld, F. (2011). Influence of slag chemistry on the hydration of alkali-activated blast-furnace slag—Part I: Effect of MgO. Cement and Concrete Research, 41(9), 955–963.
Pasetto, M., & Baldo, N. (2011). Mix design and performance analysis of asphalt concretes with electric arc furnace slag. Construction and Building Materials, 25(8), 3458–3468.
Wu, S., Xue, Y., Ye, Q., & Chen, Y. (2007). Utilization of steel slag as aggregates for stone mastic asphalt (SMA) mixtures. Building and Environment, 42(7), 2580–2585.
Motz, H., & Geiseler, J. (2001). Products of steel slags an opportunity to save natural resources. Waste Management, 21(3), 285–293.
Marinković, S., Radonjanin, V., Malešev, M., & Ignjatović, I. (2010). Comparative environmental assessment of natural and recycled aggregate concrete. Waste Management, 30(11), 2255–2264.
Turk, J., Cotič, Z., Mladenovič, A., & Šajna, A. (2015). Environmental evaluation of green concretes versus conventional concrete by means of LCA. Waste Management, 45, 194–205.
Alam, M. R., Lukman, A. S. M., & Chowdhury, R. (2023). Navigating Financial Currents: Strategies for Debt Management in Spinning Mills Amid Global Textile Industry Expansion–A Review. Applied Agriculture Sciences, 1(1), 1–8.
Rana, M. N. U., Chowdhury, R., Al Shiam, S. A., Mahin, M. R. H., Islam, M., & Ahmed, E. (2025). Classification of Succulent Plants Utilizing Vision LLMs. Cognizance Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 5(7), 856–865.
Ganesan, K., Rajagopal, K., & Thangavel, K. (2008). Rice husk ash blended cement: Assessment of optimal level of replacement for strength and permeability properties of concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 22(8), 1675–1683.
Chindaprasirt, P., Rukzon, S., & Sirivivatnanon, V. (2008). Resistance to chloride penetration of blended Portland cement mortar containing palm oil fuel ash, rice husk ash and fly ash. Construction and Building Materials, 22(5), 932–938.
Cordeiro, G. C., Toledo Filho, R. D., & de Moraes Rego Fairbairn, E. (2009). Use of ultrafine rice husk ash with high-carbon content as pozzolan in high performance concrete. Materials and Structures, 42(7), 983–992.
Bahurudeen, A., Kanraj, D., Dev, V. G., & Santhanam, M. (2015). Performance evaluation of sugarcane bagasse ash blended cement in concrete. Cement and Concrete Composites, 59, 77–88.
Habert, G., Miller, S. A., John, V. M., Provis, J. L., Favier, A., Horvath, A., & Scrivener, K. L. (2020). Environmental impacts and decarbonization strategies in the cement and concrete industries. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1(11), 559–573.
Das, A., Rahman, N. U., & Hossain, Z. (2025). Sustainability assessments of hot and warm mix asphalt paving technologies. In Proceedings of the 10th North American International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (pp. 1-12).
Rahman, N. U., Das, A., & Hossain, Z. (2025). Evaluating the use of steel slag and rice husk ash as replacements of aggregate in concrete: A sustainable next-gen concrete. In Proceedings of the 10th North American International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (pp. 1-12).
Saiyed, S., Hasan, M., Chowdhury, R., Hossain, M. A., Musa, S., & Kumar, V. (2025). Green Human Resource Management Practices on the Sustainable Performance of India's Sports Sector. Retos: nuevas tendencias en educación física, deporte y recreación, (67), 946-961.
Saiyed, S., Hasan, M., Chowdhury, R., Parves, K. T. B., Hariyadi, E., & Kumar, V. (2025). Harnessing artificial intelligence to strengthen green innovation capacity in pursuit of sustainable development goals: Evidence from Taiwan's manufacturing sector. Equilibrium: Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, 20(3), 877–904.
Hasan, M. (2025). The role of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure on firm value in ASEAN. Advanced Business Journal, 1(1), 11–17.
Kusuma, P. S. A. J., Ismanto, I., Hasan, M., & Phan, Q. H. (2025). Governance and strategy in sustainable food processing: A hierarchical framework. In BIO Web of Conferences (Vol. 201, p. 05005). EDP Sciences.
Hasan, M., Saiyed, S. M., & Musa, S. (2024). Green dynamics: Exploring the impact of eco-friendly marketing on consumer behavior in Bangladesh. International Journal of Economic and Environmental Sustainability, 1(1).