Aim and Scope

Science Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture (SJCA)is an international peer-reviewed monthly journal which provides an international forum for the dissemination of the latest original research, achievements and developments in all areas of civil engineering and architecture.The journal publishes original papers within the broad field of civil engineering and architecture which include,but are not limited to, the following:Building,Construction,Geotechnical Engineering,Coastal and Harbor Engineering.

showing a steady growth in economy. If things go right, some experts believe, India's economy may overtake that of the US by 2050 to be the second largest in the world just behind China. But by then India's population will have grown to 1.6 billion, making it the most populous nation in the world. Although the present economy is largely agro-based with majority of population living in rural areas the ongoing development pattern shows a clear trend towards rapid urbanization. The country is heading towards a rapid transition in habitation pattern whereby over 50% of the Indian population will perhaps be living in cities and urban conglomerates in the near future. This will give rise to many infrastructure problems, the most important being the supply of clean water and nominal sanitation to its fast growing population. These are prime needs and high priority with adequate budgetary support should be provided to achieve these objectives. Also, this is the topmost priority in UN Millennium Development Goals and needs to be treated differently from the other resources problems keeping it above the rules of the marketplace.

Keyword:Urbanization, Population density, Safe water, UNMDG, Climate Change, Conservation, Desalination, Recycling, Reuse

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Freeways (rural roads) are transportation facilities for movement of goods and people in trucks, automobiles and buses at desirable speeds in the country side between cities, towns and suburbs. The intensity (frequency) and loads (often overloaded in magnitude) on these roads necessitate the provision of high strength pavement structure with zero and/or low maintenance needs especially in areas substantially characterized with weak and poor subgrades, which are loose and/or settlement prone. This paper presents the rationalization of palm kernel shell wastes as coarse aggregates for the provision of rigid pavements that are environmental friendly, structural efficient and cost effective freeways in the rural and coastal areas where aggregates are in short supply and palm kernel waste dumps abound with consequential disposal and environmental pollution challenges. The appropriateness of the various nominal mixes of the ‘palm kernel shell concrete’ as rigid pavement was evaluated accordingly at both fresh and matured ages with corresponding costs. The Nigerian palm kernel shell satisfies the density criterion for normal concrete and lightweight concrete in all respects while the palm kernel shell concrete at nominal mixes of 1:11/2:3 and 1:1:2 satisfies the specifications for rigid pavement. In addition, the cost of producing PKS concrete/m2 for all levels of traffic and mix proportions is cheaper than those of normal concrete and asphaltic concrete. It was, therefore, recommended as a strategic and way forward of producing environmentally, healthy, structural and cost effective pavement for transportation of goods on freeways.

Keyword:Palm kernel shell, rigid pavement, freeways, cost model, lightweight concrete.

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