Compressive Strength Evaluation of Stabilized and Solidified Metal Waste from Shipyard

The abrasive blasting activities in shipyard produce very fine airborne dust in large volume, which is commonly known as abrasive blasting waste (ABW). ABW is a major concern in solid waste management. This ABW contains high concentration of hazardous pollutants such as antifouling paint and heavy metals. These pollutants cause adverse effect to the human health and environment especially the marine organisms. Currently, the available sanitary landfills are reaching the maximum capacity which could not withhold the increasing waste production. Further, there is a lack of information regarding solidification and stabilization (SS) treatment towards ABW in Malaysia. In this research, using Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) as binder and ABW as filler, attempt has been made to produce stabilized blocks. The variables include water to cement (W/C) of 0.4, 0.45 and 0.5 and cement to ABW (C/AB) ratio of 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0. In this paper, strength development of stabilized blocks is discussed. These blocks could be used as potential building material such as paving block, brick and filler material.