Recycling has reached a new level for the transportation construction industry.
The Public Works Department of the city of Bellingham, Wash., pushed the limits of recycled materials use with a street project that included 400 old toilets incorporated into concrete. The Public Works Department developed a specification using recycled aggregate, which allows for the use of recycled brick, concrete, tile, toilets, and other similar types of construction waste.
“We did it because it was the right thing — and it was fun,” Anthony Freeman, P.E., project engineer for Bellingham, tells Equipment World, Better Roads and Aggregates Manager magazines. “We got to play mad scientist. I think it [this project] really speaks about local partnerships, though.”
Freeman said the city was actively looking at using recycled concrete on the sidewalks. “Now, we have a spec that allows the city to do that,” Freeman says. “We are not only using toilets, but looking into capturing a bigger waste stream. There is not a huge market for recycled concrete, but we are going to enhance market for it.”
