IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE PEOPLE: Dolocrete is a viable alternative to concrete  that has many benefits. It is lighter, stronger, non-porous, environmentally benign, cheaper, and fire-proof to name a few. Suitable in all climate types. Can be used to replace concrete for residential, commercial, industrial purposes and infrastructural uses such as roads, bridges, etc. and has various other applications.

 

NEXT STEP: To complete the research and liaise with cement manufacturers to license them to  manufacture Doloment which is the “cement” material from which Dolocrete is produced.

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A Preliminary Independent Assessment

The following assessment is based on information supplied by the owners of Dolocrete Technology and subsequent validation by an Australian materials laboratory that specializes in building material research.

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Dolocrete is the name given to a concrete substitute that has resulted from more than twenty five years of research conducted in Queensland, Australia.

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Dolocrete cement is manufactured from dolomite, a mineral rock that covers approximately 15% of the earth’s crust. The manufacturing process is similar to that of ordinary Portland Cement although it requires less energy and time to produce.

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Dolocrete cement can be mixed with a large variety of fillers to form useful construction and building materials that can be formulated to comply with international building standards.

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Dolocrete appears to have several advantages over ordinary Portland Cement and conventional concrete. Some of these are listed below:

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• Dolocrete does not expand or contract significantly at ambient temperatures so may not require expansion joints.

• Dolocrete is substantially waterproof and fireproof.

• Dolocrete is capable of excellent sound and temperature insulation qualities.

• Dolocrete can use a very wide range of inexpensive fillers.

• Dolocrete can be bulked out as much as 8 to 1.

• Dolocrete products can be made using poor quality of water (even sea-water) without detriment.

• Dolocrete can use strong organic fillers, such as bamboo and sugar cane bagasse as reinforcing.

• Dolocrete can encapsulate and make safe a wide range of toxic wastes.

• Dolocrete cement manufacture only requires a fraction of the energy compared with Portland Cement.

• Dolocrete cement gives off negligible carbon dioxide during manufacture compared with Portland Cement.

• Dolocrete cement is substantially cheaper to produce than Portland Cement.

• Dolocrete products are substantially cheaper to produce than concrete products.

 

The cost of producing Dolocrete cement (Doloment) is estimated to be less than half that of Portland Cement and its quality is claimed to be superior. Recent tests indicates that Dolocrete cement has the ability to safely utilise domestic, industrial and mining wastes as fillers to make a variety of products such as bricks, building blocks, roof tiles, wall panels, floors, roads and paving materials that are superior to existing counterparts. Furthermore, Dolocrete has been shown it can safely encapsulate hazardous and toxic chemicals in a way that is superior to any other method.

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Environment

Dolocrete cement appears to be environmentally friendly because its manufacturing process only requires a fraction of the energy to produce compared with Portland Cement (the industry’s third largest user of energy in the US). Also, Dolocrete cement, absorbs the same amount of carbon dioxide during its curing process as it expelled during its manufacture. On the other hand, 44 tonnes of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere for every 100 tonnes of limestone (calcium carbonate) processed to make Portland Cement – a huge difference.

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Research with Dolocrete was conducted in Australia over several years with around two hundred different waste materials being successfully tested. For example, such unlikely materials as sawdust; shredded newsprint; straw, sugar cane bagasse and paper mill wastes proved to be very suitable and effective fillers. Mining and industrial wastes such as ‘aluminium pug’; coal ash (from power stations) and volcanic ash were shown to be equally effectively and efficiently useful as fillers.

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Costs

Tests suggests Dolocrete may be a very cost effective material that can be used for all sorts of applications such as: 1) manufacturing house bricks and roof tiles without the need for kiln curing (high energy usage), 2) manufacturing prefabricated panels, 3) the laying of sidewalks and roads, and construction works such as swimming pools and possibly bridges and high-rise buildings.

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Applications

As an example of the application, Dolocrete roof tiles may be used in cold climates where freezing temperatures cause normal tiles to crack and break when the moisture in them freezes. This shouldn’t occur with Dolocrete tiles provided they are filled with materials that don’t absorb moisture.

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Roads could be built without the need for those annoying expansion joints. Also, it is likely that Dolocrete cement could be mixed with the on-site soil to produce the road base, resulting in major savings in construction costs.

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The potential for this product appears to be very extensive as the material cost of housing, for example, may be reduced by as much as 30-70%. The effect could be to make housing and roads available to more people throughout the world including third world countries.

                  

The following video was made around 1990 (before digital HD) hence poor quality.