Quantum of Building Demolishied Debris Associated with Urban Road Construction in Gombe City, Nigeria

Demolition activity is deeply embedded in the urban system. In recent times, infrastructural development in Nigeria’s major cities has led to increase in road construction activities associated with demolition of hundreds of houses from which millions of tons of Demolition Waste have been generated. However, it is widely reported in many studies globally that demolition debris is such waste that can be re-used. Though, this is not the case in Gombe due to paucity of information on its composition, size and quantities. Hence, the objective of this study is to determine the volumetric composition of generated demolition debris in Gombe City with a view to knowing the potential quantities available for re-use. The study used both qualitative and quantitative design approach. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select 13 roads which were sub-divided in to Lot 1 (8.33km) and Lot 2 (15.04km) and the period of 2011-2014 was considered for the study. Primary data kept by actors and authorities for the compensation assessment which do not refer to demolition debris quantities were used as the bases for extraction of quantities. Handheld (GPS) instrument was used in establishing coordinates; photographs were taken from different locations showing demolition activities taking place and composition of different materials debris. Results revealed that a total of 1,271 structures were evaluated after partially or fully demolished for street widening and/or to pave way for new road construction, in addition a total volume of 129,993.57m3 of Demolished Debris was generated which composed of 10.00% Concrete, 60.30% Sandcrete and 29.69% clay/mud. In conclusion, there exist huge quantities of building demolition debris from street widening and/or new road construction in Gombe city which can be put in to re-use as a component of urban road construction, where properly managed will go a long way to reducing environmental adverse effect due to excessive exploitation for new material.