Mechanical behavior of concretes made with non-conventional organic origin calcareous aggregates

In this work the performance of plain concrete added with mussel shells of Mytilus galloprovincialis has been studied. In the Mediterranean Basin, this variety is among the most common wild and farming mussels. The type of mussel shell used comes from Italian shellfish farming, which generates 100,000 tons per year of mussel shell waste. The mussel waste has been cleaned with bleach and using different abrasives, then boiled in water for 15 min and finally dried in order to ensure to eliminate all the organic parts. The natural gravel in the concrete mix has been replaced with different percentages of crushed shells. The results have been analyzed and discussed in order to evaluate the possibility to utilize this waste material for concretes improving the sustainability of the environment.