A novel fibre-reinforced concrete, developed by researchers at The University of British Columbia, Canada, utilizes recycled materials, giving it the ability to “self-heal” when cracks begin to form. In 2019, this technology was successfully installed in the Chawathil First Nation community, as a project demonstrating the resiliency of this novel material.
This internally cured concrete pavement utilizes scrap tire fibers, cellulose fibers, and other recycled materials. It requires less maintenance and lasts much longer than traditional concrete pavements. In addition to improving the longevity of concrete, adding these fibers reduces landfill waste through the re-use of scrap tires and other recycled materials. In order to monitor the performance of the pavement, the team has embedded 30 solar-powered sensors that transmit data over the internet to IC-IMPACTS researchers. These health-monitoring sensors provide 24/7 data that will enable efficient future designs and improvements in the self-healing pavement technology. A similar version of this technology was installed in the community of Thondebhavi, India, in 2014.
IC-IMPACTS’ advanced self-repairing pavement technology has been demonstrated to reduce construction costs, minimize environmental impact, and extend the longevity of deployments while diverting tires from the landfill.
– Dr. Nemy Banthia, IC-IMPACTS CEO and Scientific Director
The material continues to be monitored using a set of smart sensors which were installed in the pavement at the time of deployment. These sensors upload data to the cloud which helps the research team to monitor the behavior of the novel material. The data from these sensors was recently presented at the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Annual Convention, and at several other conferences worldwide.
The Chawathil First Nation is a band government of the Sto:lo people located in the Upper Fraser Valley region near Hope, British Columbia, Canada, situated in a resplendent mountain setting located in the Fraser Valley, 140 km East of Vancouver. The Chawathil people have lived in the present location for thousands of years, in the traditional territory which once occupied much of what is now Hope, British Columbia.
For more information, please visit: http://chawathil.org
2024 IC-IMPACTS Conference in Delhi December 9 - 11, 2024 New Delhi, India
