Army Corps: No Lead Concerns in Concrete Debris

A study conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has found that there is no environmental or health risk to workers involved in the crushing and recycling of concrete containing lead-based paint as long as they follow certain lead compliance work protocols.

The study, developed by principal investigator Stephen Cosper of the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign, Ill., deals with the demolition of family housing at Fort Ord, Calif., which is typical of old U.S. Army buildings being demolished.

“The regulatory environment on the issue of concrete reuse is unclear, so a report of this type is extremely important to the demolition industry,” says Michael Taylor, executive director of the Doylestown, Pa.-based National Demolition Association. “What once was routinely shipped to landfills for disposal is now crushed on site and used as aggregate for reuse in projects like highway building.”

The report attempts to correlate the concentration of lead on the painted buildings to the concentration of lead in aggregate produced from those buildings’ demolition. The final concentration is the key metric in determining suitable end use.

In the case of Fort Ord housing, the final lead concentration was found to be low, the Corps says.

The work site was assessed in several ways, including several weeks of worker observation, including monitoring of demolition contractor dust control procedures, worker practices, and analytical evaluation of samples collected during actual demolition and concrete recycling.

A free copy of this study is available from the National Demolition Association through its Web site, www.demolitionassociation.com, or by calling 800-541-2412.

Cement Consumption To Grow 43% by 2030

By 2030 the U.S. population is expected to reach 363.5 million persons. Supplying construction needs will lead to a 43% growth in U.S. cement consumption by that year.

As a result, annual cement consumption will hit 183 million metric tons, reflecting a 55-million-metric-ton increase compared to the past cyclical peak level in 2005, says Edward Sullivan, PCA chief economist.

“Sixty-three million more people will be living in the United States in 2030 and they will need homes, schools, hospitals, and roads,” he says. “This construction will boost demand for cement to record levels.”

One sector that will incur large growth is highway construction. Today, this segment accounts for 30% of total annual cement consumption. To meet the demand of the expected additional 49 million drivers, at least 400,000 additional lane miles of highway must be added by 2030. Efforts to reduce congestion and “wasted” fuel and its associated emissions could further increase the number of miles.

Additionally, energy and environmental concerns are predicted to boost cement intensities, the tons of cement per dollar of construction activity.

For example, houses built with insulating concrete form walls can require up to 44% less energy to heat and 32% less energy to cool than comparable frame homes. As more homeowners and builders seek energy efficient houses, the insulated concrete wall market share is expected to increase to 30% all new homes, compared to its 7% share today.