Within the framework of the MOBICCON-PRO project – an international research project in the field of circular economy in the construction, funded by the Horizon Europe Program of the European Union, a specialized training for professionals from construction laboratories, road construction specialists and experts from construction waste treatment plants was conducted. The training, entitled “Specifics of testing recycled rock materials according to BDS EN 13242+A1 and BDS EN 13242+A1/NA” was held on 26 November 2024 at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy (UACEG).
The training was organized, within the framework of the Territorial Cluster Centre for Circular Construction, established within the MOBICCON-PRO project, by the project coordinator Glavbolgarstroy Holding (GBS) and its partners UACEG and the Economic Policy Institute ( EPI).
Academics from the Faculty of Structural Engineering, Building Materials and Insulations at UACEG and researchers within the project – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Rоumiana Zaharieva, Chief Assist. Prof. Dr. Eng. Boyan Petrov, Senior Assist. Prof. Eng. Magdalena Kostadinova and Eng. Borislav Simonov, shared the experience of UACEG in testing of recycled rock materials and presented numerous laboratory data accumulated within the MOBBICON-PRO project. Assoc. Prof. Zaharieva briefly presented the characteristics of recycled rock materials originating from construction waste – heterogeneity, content of impurities and the presence of porous old cement stone in recycled concrete materials, which require some specifics in testing of the recycled materials in order to assess compliance with BDS EN 13242+A1 and BDS EN 13242+A1/NA: classification of components in coarse recycled rock materials, grain density and water absorption, quality of the fine fraction, resistance to crushing, resistance to abrasion and resistance to weathering. The applicability of recycled rock materials for usage in road construction and construction facilities was also commented within the discussion.
The specialists participating in the training showed great interest in the laboratory tests of recycled rock materials carried out within the MOBBICON-PRO project, as well as in the results achieved so far within the project. Some measures to be undertaken at national level in order to increase the usage of recycled materials, including as admixtures for concretes and mortars, were also discussed during the training.
