Feasibility Study of Low Cost Concrete Products as an Appropriate Alternative Construction Material in the Rwandan Construction Industry

Abstract

This study was carried out as an investigation into concrete products as an appropriate alternative for plastic, rubble stone and steel in the construction of domestic water tanks, door and window frames in the Rwandan construction industry. This project is an innovation aimed at adding value to the available resources of materials and personnel to expose untapped opportunities that are beneficial to the Rwandan community and the world in general through conservation of the environment and creation of employment. In a similar sense, this effort responds to the result of too much consumption of wood products in this rapidly growing infrastructure sector and calls for alternatives such as concrete in construction of door and window frames .In order to answer the research objectives, the researchers opted to observe, carry out demonstrations/ modeling, views of the end users of the product especially for water tanks. Data gathered from this research instrument were then computed and interpreted. Along with primary data, the researchers also made use of secondary resources in the form of published articles and literatures to support the survey results. Curved interlocking concrete blocks are affordable, environment friendly, labour intensive and use locally available materials, adoptable by both the rural and urban settings, uses local materials and uses local labour hence providing employment. At the end, these products were compared with conventional materials for their costs and maintenance. The results show promise as new construction material suitable for use in Rwanda. However, use of concrete for door and window frames is new to Rwanda and should further be investigated for adoptability.