Sustainable Concrete Pavers Incorporating Thar Coal Fly Ash: “Strength Enhancement, Ecological Improvement, and Cost Optimization”

Concrete pavers are popular for pedestrian walkways, parking lots, and other external applications due to their flexibility and ease of installation. However, the conventional use of cement, aggregate, and sand creates sustainability challenges in terms of resource depletion and the environmental impact of CO2 emissions from cement production. To address this, the current study aims to develop low-cost and sustainable concrete pavers by using Thar coal fly ash locally available industrial byproduct a partial replacement for cement while maintaining the fundamental features of concrete pavers. Various fly ash replacement levels (0,10%, 20%,30%, and 40% by weight of cement) were tested to see how they affected mechanical properties, durability and cost of concrete pavers. Results indicate that incorporating 20% fly ash yields an optimal balance between mechanical performance, embodied carbon and energy, and cost efficiency, with a 12% increase in compressive strength, 17.39%, 17.21% decrease in embodied carbon and energy emissions and up to 15% reduction in material costs compared to the control mix. The findings demonstrate the potential of Thar coal fly ash to produce durable and economical concrete pavers, contributing to sustainable infrastructure development and effective industrial waste management in Pakistan. The solution also addresses three (3) of the seventeen (17) UN Strategic Development Goals (SDGs) related to good health and well-being; industry, innovation, and infrastructure, and climate actions.