Strength and durability assessment of concrete substructure in organic and hydrocarbon polluted soil

Physical and chemical properties of host environment to concrete structures have serious impact on the performance and durability of constructed concrete facilities. This paper presents a 7-month study that simulated the influence of soil contamination due to organic abattoir waste and indiscriminate disposal of spent hydrocarbon on strength and durability of embedded concrete. Concrete mix, 1:1.5:3 was designed for all cube and beam specimens with water-cement ratio of 0.5 and the compressive and flexural strengths of the specimen were measured from age 28 days up to 196 days in the host environment. It was found that both host environments attack the physical and strength of concrete in compression and flexure. However, hydrocarbon had much greater adverse effect on the load-carrying capacity of concrete structures and hence make constructed facilities less serviceable and vulnerable to premature failure.