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Handling of concrete making materials in the Ethiopian construction industry

Thesis · October 2005

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2 authors:

Denamo Addissie Nuramo Abebe Dinku

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University
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 ABSTRACT

Construction materials management is an important element in the management of

construction projects. One of the construction materials widely used in construction projects is
concrete. Concrete being one of the important constituents of many of the construction
projects, in addition to its subjectivity to variability, requires a close and thorough care and
handling in construction projects. The constituents of concrete, which majority of them occur
naturally, are subjected to a wide range of variability and quality problems. Therefore, with
this respect a research was carried out to assess the situation of handling of concrete making
materials in the Ethiopian construction industry with a special emphasis given to the concrete
making aggregates. The objective of the research was to assess the current situation of the
handling of concrete making materials in the Ethiopian construction industry in general and to
give recommendation inline with the outcome of the results of the research. There fore, in the
research test results of fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and rock samples were collected and
analyzed. According to the result, 44%of the coarse aggregate samples considered and 77% of
the fine aggregate samples considered couldn’t satisfy requirements set by different standards.
In addition, it has been found out that more than about 60% of the tests that the samples failed
to satisfy don’t attribute to the natural quality of the materials. Further, researches carried out
in different parts of Ethiopia had also shown that the naturally available material have quite
acceptable quality to be used as a concrete making material. The research also indicates that
the reason why concrete making materials fail to comply with requirements attributes to the
handling of the materials in the construction industry but not to the unavailability of materials
satisfying requirements in Ethiopia. Further, from the observations made in construction sites
and aggregate production plants in addition to the interviews made with relevant personnel, it
was concluded in the research that the aggregate production in Ethiopia is not up to the
standard with respect to quality, quantity and production process. Another conclusion drawn
from the research was that the aggregate production process and handling of concrete making
materials in the Ethiopian construction industry should be upgraded in all aspects including
expert training, utilization of improved production process and introduction of
standardization both for the quality of the materials and the production processes. Finally,
from observations made in Germany the study concluded that introduction of a ready-mixed
concrete production system to the Ethiopian construction industry could improve the current
situation with respect to better handling and production of good quality concrete.
Key words: concrete, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, cement, handling, quality, production

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