Seawater mixed (SW) concrete lessens the freshwater (FW) demand and eases the stress on the already depleting FW resources. The use of SW concrete is a sustainable solution that mitigates the environmental impact of concrete production, especially in coastal regions and islands vulnerable to FW scarcity. This study investigated the influence of polypropylene (PP) fiber incorporation on high-performance-SW concrete’s long-term mechanical and durability performance. The findings indicate that the incorporation of seawater in the production of concrete containing ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) has a beneficial effect on its early strength. This is due to the fact that SW accelerates the hardening process. SW concrete mixes showed an improvement in strength with aging. The difference between the strength of SW and FW concretes reduced with aging. The PP fiber showed phenomenal improvements in the tensile properties of SW and FW concretes. At the addition of 0.3% PP fiber, SW yielded 56% and 48% higher splitting tensile and flexural strength than plain FW concrete at 28 days, respectively. The use of 0.15% of PP fiber caused notable reductions of around 20% in the water absorption (WA) capacity and a 12–20% reduction in chloride ion permeability (CIP) of SW concrete. The incorporation of PP fiber increases the number of drying–wetting cycles to initiate the erosion of SW and FW concretes in a simulated environment. The use of 0.15% PP fiber is beneficial, as compared to 0.3% PP fiber to control the tidal erosion of SW and FW concretes. After exposure to 126 drying–wetting cycles (stimulated tidal erosion), the mass loss of SW concrete was reduced from 0.56% to 0.22%.

Surface water is an important source of water supply for irrigation purpose and in urban areas, sewage water is being disposed of in nearby canals without treatment. A study was conducted to investigate the dynamics of water quality of irrigation canal as a result of this practice. The study ascertained the impact of different salinity parameters, indices and approaches to examine the hazardous effects on quality of canal water. The study analyses the samples collected for various parameters like pH, TDS, EC, Na, Cl, Ca, Mg, K, CO₃, HCO₃ etc. It helped to decide the restriction on use of water based on FAO-UN guidelines. Investigations were focused on assessment of contaminants affecting the quality of water and having hazardous effects on different stages of irrigation water usage. Wilcox diagram and Doneen’s approach-based analysis helped to identify the class and quality of water. This study shall help to analyze the quality of water and provide support to the decision makers for better water resource management and policy development for irrigation purpose i.e., treatment and distribution of water resource.

This research intends to explore the sustainable masonry bond formation and interface behaviour of brick masonry bonds with different cement mortar ratios. To test the sustainable behaviour of different brick bonds, different tests were applied to evaluate the performance of the developed five brick masonry structures with the help of four mortar ratios. Following that pattern, the methodologies of a prism triplet test, a bond wrench test, a shear bond test and strength tests for brick masonry were applied. The prism triplet test explained the bonding behaviour of mortar by producing a maximum strength (0.21 MPa) with a 1:3 mix ratio, and the minimum strength (0.095 MPa) with a 1:8 mix ratio. The bond wrench test showed a bond strength of maximum 0.0685 MPa with a mortar ratio of 1:3 and a minimum of 0.035 MPa with a mortar ratio of 1:8. The strength tests for masonry structures expressed that compressive strength (0.786 MPa) and flexural strength (0.352 MPa) were found to be at maximum level with a mortar ratio (1:3) with an English bond formation. For predictions of compressive and flexural strength, artificial neural networks (ANNs) were deployed, and successful predictions of these values along with the relationships between different properties of the material, mortar combinations and bond combinations are presented to complete the exploration of the relationship. This pattern can be helpful for the selection of sustainable brick masonry formations for housing development.

In this study, the effect of micro-carbon fiber on the properties of concrete incorporating recycled coarse aggregate at three different levels, i.e., 0%, 50%, and 100% by volume replacement of natural coarse aggregate, was studied. Carbon fiber was incorporated at a dosage of 0.5% by volume fraction. The effect of silica fume or micro-silica on the efficacy of fiber reinforcement was also investigated. Studied parameters include important mechanical properties, such as compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength, and physical/quality parameters such as water absorption capacity and ultrasonic pulse velocity. The results showed that the mechanical and durability performance deteriorates with the increasing percentage of recycled coarse aggregate. Carbon fiber can significantly improve the tensile properties of recycled aggregate concrete. The combination of carbon fiber and silica fume proved to be highly useful in addressing both mechanical and durability concerns simultaneously. Concrete made with 50% recycled coarse aggregate, 8% silica fume, and 0.5% carbon fiber yielded 20% greater tensile and flexural strength compared to the control mix. Likewise, concrete containing 100% recycled coarse aggregate with silica fume and carbon fiber yielded higher tensile strength compared to the control mix. Silica fume ameliorated the bonding between fibers and matrix and improved the overall efficacy of fiber reinforcement.