A comparative study of physical and chemical properties of different pozzolanic materials used for roller compacted concrete RCC dams

This paper addresses the feasibility and the efficiency of using Natural Pozzolan and/or Rock flour in Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) gravity dams. For this purpose, five identical mortar trial mixes were prepared using five different supplementary materials, i.e., fly ash produced in South Africa (proven to be effective in RCC construction), fly ash produced in Turkey, Jordanian natural pozzolan, Saudi natural pozzolan, and rock flour from Mujib Dam basalt quarry. The physical and chemical properties of these pozzolanic materials were determined. The effectiveness of each one of these mineral admixtures used as a cement replacement material in controlling alkali silica reaction are studied and analyzed. Correlations were made between the mechanical properties for the five proposed mixes and a control mix using the Jordanian Portland Cement. The results demonstrate that the performance of Natural Pozzolana and/or rock flour as compared with that of fly ash and other pozzolanic material is very satisfactory and can be effectively used in RCC construction.