Suitability of Pulverized Cow Bones as a Paving Tile Constituent

Abstract

Economic advantage of waste has been clamoured severally in order to improve the environment and reduce pollution. In Nigeria, the common materials used for the production of paving tiles are granite dust and cement, in some cases silica sand is added. This study is aimed at investigating the feasibility of using available raw materials such as laterite, silica sand and pulverized cow bones to develop paving tiles. Tiles of 200 mm ×100 mm × 60 mm were produced and the effects of various materials added were investigated and analysed. The production method employed was casting and curing was done for twenty-eight (28) days. Physical and mechanical analyses of the paving tiles showed that the tiles with mixing ratio of 4:1:3 (laterite: pulverized cow bones: silica sand) with 20% cement stabilization was the optimum mix ratio, producing the maximum compressive strength and modulus of rupture of 5.05 MPa and 1.83 MPa respectively.