Mud concrete paving block for pedestrian pavements

Abstract

Population growth and rapid urbanization have led to mass infrastructure development in many sectors such as buildings, roads, urban public areas, etc. However, little attention has been given to human comfort and environmental sustainability of paving blocks. This is an attempt to search for alternative eco-friendly earth paving material for public walkways with both the strength and durable properties of concrete while ensuring pedestrian comfort. Approaches were made to change the fine particle percentage while keeping the sand and gravel constant, once the optimum most practical mixture was known, the standard tests were done. The results obtained revealed that the proposed self-compacting block can be produced by using soil with less than 5% fine particles, 55% of 65% sand particles and 18% of 22% cement by weight together with the moisture content between 14% and 15%The tested mud concrete paving blocks were already used in practical application in Sri Lankan urban context.