Reuse of existing reinforced concrete beams: Exploration of residual mechanical characteristics and measure of environmental impact

With a view to developing reuse, reinforced concrete beams were retrieved from a deconstructed building, and tested by 3-point bending tests in order to measure their residual strength. With a residual strength of about 70% of the presumed initial strength in the worst case, deconstruction by beam sawing appears to be an interesting solution for the recovery of deconstructed buildings. For a low resistance loss, LCA of these solutions highlights that the reused beam has globally less impact than a new beam. Additional studies need to be conducted to increase the robustness of these conclusions.