{"63746":{"#nid":"63746","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Find Method for Recycling Rubble, Rebuilding Haiti","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA year following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, researchers from\nthe Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a method to recycle rubble\ninto a strong construction material, which could be a possible solution for safely\nand inexpensively rebuilding Haiti\u2019s structures.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Professors Reginald\nDesRoches and Kimberly E. Kurtis from the School of Civil and Environmental\nEngineering (CEE), along with CEE graduate students Joshua J. Gresham and Brett\nHolland, say the concrete is made from recycled rubble and indigenous raw\nmaterials using simple techniques. And it meets or exceeds the minimum strength\nstandards defined by the American Concrete Institute and used in the U.S.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis new method for\ndeveloping concrete could be a sustainable strategy for clearing the \u201clogjam\nthat is blocking reconstruction,\u201d the Georgia Tech research team said in the article\n\u201cBreaking the reconstruction logjam: Progress\nthrough rubble reuse\u201d that appears in\nthis month\u2019s \u003Cem\u003EBulletin of the American\nCeramic Society\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe commodious piles of concrete rubble and\nconstruction debris form huge impediments to reconstruction and are often\ncontaminated,\u201d said DesRoches, professor of civil and environmental engineering\nat Georgia Tech. \u201cThere are political and economic dilemmas as well, but we\nhave found we can turn one of the dilemmas \u2013 the rubble and debris \u2013 into a\nsolution via some fairly simple methods of recycling it into new concrete.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 7.0-magnitude\nearthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, caused an estimated 300,000 deaths\nand collapsed more than 300,000 homes and 30,000 businesses. A year later, many\nof the damaged areas remain covered with a vast amount of debris, estimated to be\nabout 20 million cubic yards.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBorn in Haiti, DesRoches traveled to\nPort-au-Prince eight times last year to collect samples of typical concrete\nrubble and available sand types that could be used in concrete preparation. He\nand his colleagues at Georgia Tech made concrete samples from the collected\nmaterials.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBased upon these results, we now believe that\nHaitian concrete debris, even of inferior quality, can be effectively used as\nrecycled coarse aggregate in new construction,\u201d said Kurtis, Georgia Tech\nprofessor of civil and environmental engineering. \u201cIt can work effectively, even\nif mixed by hand. One key is having a consistent mix of materials that can be\neasily measured.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EDesRoches said recycling the debris eliminates\ntwo hurdles to reconstruction \u2013 limited landfill space for storing the debris\nand fiscal challenges of importing new building materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Tech research team plans to share their\nresearch with Haitian government officials and non-governmental organizations\nworking on reconstruction projects.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA year following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, researchers from\nthe Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a method to recycle rubble\ninto a strong construction material, which could be a possible solution for safely\nand inexpensively rebuilding Haiti\u2019s structures.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"One year after a devastating earthquake, a possible solution for rebuilding Haiti\u2019s structures"}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2011-01-20 11:55:24","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:02","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-01-20T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-01-20T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"39771":{"id":"39771","type":"image","title":"Reginald DesRoches","body":null,"created":"1449174117","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:21:57","changed":"1475894253","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:37:33"},"63657":{"id":"63657","type":"image","title":"Kimberly Kurtis","body":null,"created":"1449176690","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:50","changed":"1475894559","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:39","alt":"Kimberly Kurtis","file":{"fid":"191847","name":"kimberly_kurtis.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kimberly_kurtis_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kimberly_kurtis_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":14203,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/kimberly_kurtis_0.jpg?itok=C1ZIKi_X"}}},"media_ids":["39771","63657"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/ceramics.org\/publications-and-resources\/the-bulletin","title":"http:\/\/ceramics.org\/publications-and-resources\/the-bulletin"},{"url":"http:\/\/play.media.gatech.edu\/s\/gatech.edu\/www?ID=9389e43a-80c3-5c74-80fe-4982cf4df5a2","title":"Making rubble to concrete - VIDEO"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"10819","name":"DesRoches"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"8247","name":"haiti"},{"id":"11660","name":"Kimberly Kurtis"},{"id":"167864","name":"School of Civil and Environmental Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["liz.klipp@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}