ASSESSING SUITABILITY OF VOLCANIC ROCK OF RWANDA AS AN AGGREGATE BASED ON ITS ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS

Volcanic rock consists of various essential contents which can be positively used as a building material in construction industry. Literature review indicates that such research efforts from Jordan, Mexico, Italy, Turkey etc. are also made. However, a potential research gap is found in existing literatures since there is no single research towards exploring the possibility of volcanic rocks that are available in Rwanda. Laboratory investigation on volcanic rock samples of Rwanda has been assessed on the engineering properties. Based on the properties, it has been conducted its suitability as an aggregates in concrete. It is found that Rwanda aggregates to possess better performance with respect to workability, strength, and permeability compared with that from Jordan, Mexico and Turkey.