A Study on Performance of River Crushed Rocks as Coarse Aggregate in Concrete

Abstract

River stone has high potential as a natural aggregate, yet it is rarely used as a concrete material. This study investigates using river crushed rock as a coarse aggregate to replace natural quarry crushed stone. Concrete mixes with 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% river crushed rocks replacement were tested .Mix proportion is done as per IS 10262 (2009). Fresh and hardened properties of each mix were evaluated. Result showed an increase in both slump value and strength properties with higher river crushed rock content. River crushed rock is therefore a viable alternative for coarse aggregate in concrete.

Introduction

Coarse aggregates, such as gravel and crushed stone, make up 60–75% of concrete volume and significantly influence its strength, workability, water demand, and durability. Aggregate size affects the cement–water ratio and the ability of concrete to flow around reinforcement bars. As natural quarry aggregates become depleted due to increasing construction activities and quarrying causes environmental degradation, river crushed rocks are being investigated as a sustainable alternative.

This study evaluates the suitability of river crushed rocks as coarse aggregates for M25 and M30 grade concrete. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC 43 grade), natural river sand (Zone II), potable water, and 10 mm and 20 mm river crushed rocks were used in the concrete mixes. Laboratory tests showed that the river crushed rocks satisfied the requirements of IS 383 and IS 2386 standards for specific gravity, water absorption, crushing value, impact value, flakiness index, elongation index, and particle size distribution, indicating that they are suitable for concrete production.

Concrete mix designs for M25 and M30 were prepared with a water–cement ratio of 0.40 and 1.10% admixture. Workability was assessed using the slump test, while compressive strength was measured at 7 and 28 days. As the replacement level of quarry aggregate with river crushed rocks increased (R0, R50, and R100), the slump values decreased, indicating reduced workability. For M25 concrete, slump reduced from 95 mm (R0) to 72 mm (R100), while for M30 concrete it decreased from 88 mm to 65 mm.

Despite the reduction in workability, the compressive strength results were satisfactory. M25 concrete achieved 28-day compressive strengths between 29.8 and 31.4 MPa, exceeding the required characteristic strength of 25 MPa. Similarly, M30 concrete achieved 28-day strengths between 30.2 and 33.8 MPa, meeting and exceeding the required 30 MPa strength. Early-age (7-day) strengths also indicated good strength development.

Conclusion

Workability of concrete mixes increased with the increase in the percentage of river crushed stones. If the workability had kept constant, the water content for some of the concrete mixes could have been reduced thus benefiting the mechanical properties of concrete, thus it can be concluded that the river crushed rocks which is abundantly available locally can be efficiently used as a coarse aggregate in concrete. River crushed rock from Yijung River under Tuensang District satisfies all IS 383 physical requirements, up to 100% Replacement yields greater than 90% control strength acceptable as per IS 456 for structure use .

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Er. H. Mangyang Chang. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.