As climate changes progress we are dealing with violent and excessive environmental actions. However, the impacts of loads acting on a building object caused by unlikely phenomena such as: fire, explosion, flood, vehicle impact, plane impact, excessive snowfall, and excess wind gusts are still being ignored when analyzing the structure of building objects in the combinatorics of loads. The paper presents a multi-criteria approach to accidental actions and analyzes design situations and load combinations in relation to accidental actions. The existing legal acts were used to define the concept of a construction disaster. The authors verified, on the basis of applicable legal acts and design guidelines, individual analysis strategies for ensuring the safety of building objects and divided them into consequence classes of structural damage. They collected and analyzed the number of construction disasters which occurred in Poland between 1995–2019 (25 years) based on the data from the General Office of Building Control. The number of disasters was divided by voivodeships and causes and supplemented with the data on the number of people injured. The article presents the direction of research development that could be undertaken in order to eliminate future catastrophes caused by the omission of the analysis of the impact of accidental actions at the design stage. Statistical analyses were carried out to show whether land use, population density, and weather factors (wind) affect the number of recorded disasters. It has been shown that regions that have preserved the sustainable development of their territories are less vulnerable to disasters resulting from extreme weather events.

The present study focused on the behaviour of the AW-6060 aluminium alloy in peak temper condition T6 under a wide range of loads: tensile loading, projectile and explosion. The alloy is used as a structural component of civil engineering structures exposed to static or dynamic loads. Therefore, it was crucial to determine the material’s behaviour at low and intermediate rates of deformation. Despite the fact that the evaluation of the strain rate sensitivity of the AW-6060 aluminium alloy has already been discussed in literature, the authors of this paper wished to further investigate this topic. They conducted tensile tests and confirmed the thesis that the AW-6060 T6 aluminium alloy has low strain rate sensitivity at room temperature. In addition, the fracture surfaces subjected to different loading (tensile loading, projectile and explosion) were investigated and compared using a scanning electron microscope, because the authors of this paper were trying to develop a new methodology for predicting how samples had been loaded before failure occurred based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs. Projectile and explosion tests were performed mainly for the SEM observation of the fracture surfaces. These tests were unconventional and they represent the originality of this research. It was found that the type of loading had an impact on the fracture surface.

The article deals with the issue of determination of the content of SBS (Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene) in polymer-modified bitumens (PMBs). The effect of SBS copolymer on the physical and rheological properties of bitumens has been thoroughly investigated and widely described in the literature. Condition surveys of structures and evaluation of the properties of materials used at construction sites have become a huge challenge for construction engineering. Determination of the content of SBS modifier in various building materials (asphalt mixtures and bituminous waterproofing compounds) is a good example in this respect. Based on the laboratory tests, mid-infrared spectroscopy was found to be the most effective analytical method. It can be used for easy detection of the presence of SBS in a modified bitumen. However, quantitative analysis is an issue that calls for research. Currently, there are no standard guidelines, whether national or European, that would regulate the method of testing. Three test methods were assessed in this study: the AASHTO T302–15 standard method and two Australian methods described in codes of practice (T521 and Q350) developed by the local authorities, which define a standard way of determining the amount of SBS in polymer-modified bitumens. The tests were carried out on standard controls and samples sourced from the industry. The above-mentioned test methods were assessed in terms of accuracy of determination, reliability of results obtained on the industrial samples, level of complexity of the test procedure, sample preparation techniques and the type of the required reagents.

The basic feature characterising the concrete’s quality and its usefulness for a structure is compressive strength. However, other features, such as frost resistance, absorbability, tightness, abrasiveness, decide on the durability of concrete in the structure as well. The paper presents the results of tests conducted on an ecological air entraining agent applied as a concrete mix admixture. The air entrainment of a concrete mix is aimed at entraining additional air pores with appropriate shape, size, and distribution into the concrete structure. The air entrainment is one of the main technological processes aimed at improving the concrete’s resistance to destructive effect of frost [1,2,3,4].

This paper presents a comprehensive economic and environmental analysis of the utilization of recycled ceramic demolition materials in the construction sector, considering three distinct applications: erecting vertical partitions, constructing road bases, and producing decorative finishes. The findings demonstrate significant economic advantages when using recycled ceramic materials in structural applications, specifically vertical partitions and road base layers, with cost reductions of approximately 14.1% and 23.9%, respectively, compared to new materials. Conversely, the economic viability of using recycled materials for decorative finishes (“old brick”) proved limited due to high labor intensity and significant waste generation during processing, resulting in higher costs than using new materials. From an environmental perspective, the recycling of construction ceramics provides substantial benefits, notably in reducing carbon footprints. The greatest environmental benefit observed was a reduction in carbon footprint by about 90% in vertical partition applications, and about 70% for decorative finishes. Despite these benefits, practical implementation faces substantial technological and regulatory barriers, including labor-intensive recovery processes and the absence of unified quality standards. Overcoming these challenges requires further development of advanced sorting and processing technologies, clear regulations, unified quality standards, and educational efforts targeted at the construction industry and investors.