People in West Sumatra still use bricks as building materials, especially as the main wall material. Whereas, many studies have found that the quality of bricks in west Sumatra is low. Several major earthquakes that occurred in West Sumatra, such as the 2007 earthquake, the 2009 earthquake, many buildings collapsed and were badly damaged, especially residential buildings, this was due to the low quality of bricks, in addition to poor building construction. Finally, not only the building collapsed, but also many human victims due to the collapse of the wall. Many researches have found that the bricks in West Sumatra were low compressive strength, dimensions was not standard, and its water absorption was too high. This study aims to get bricks with better quality, especially higher compressive strength. This experimental research was carried out by adding limestone sendimentation to the brick-making material, with a composition of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 50%. Limestone extraction was taken from the river that passes through PT. Semen Padang. The results showed a significant increase in the compressive strength of bricks at 10% sedimentation with a compressive strength reaching 5.57 MPa, meaning that it had exceeded the SNI standard that is 50 MPa. These results prove that wasted limestone sediment can be used to improve the quality of bricks.
Volume 12 | Issue 6
Pages: 2717-2726
DOI: 10.5373/JARDCS/V12I6/S20201232