The main weaknesses of masonry buildings, especially those made of clay, against earthquakes are: high weight, which increases the earthquake force that is proportional to the weight; low resistance that causes an early crushing of walls and ceilings; lack of ductility, which causes the masonry buildings to collapse immediately after cracking. These weaknesses have been the main causes of collapse of masonry buildings in past earthquakes in various parts of the world. Also, many of the restoration works, done on the historical monuments that were made by the mentioned materials, showed their inadequacy in some recent earthquakes This invention improves clay, as an eco-friendly, low-cost material with high workability, to present a better seismic behavior, by decreasing its specific weight to less than tones/m.sup.3 and increasing its tensile resistance up to five times of the ordinary clay, and giving better insulation capabilities against heat, sound and moisture to it.

This disclosure is directed to an improved ballistic concrete barrier for stopping projectiles with a kinetic energy of between about 1.0 kJ (750 foot-pounds) and 20.3 kJ (15,000 foot-pounds) in between about 3 inches and 10 inches.

This disclosure is directed to an improved ballistic concrete barrier for stopping projectiles with a kinetic energy of between about 1.0 kJ (750 foot-pounds) and 20.3 kJ (15,000 foot-pounds) in between about 3 inches and 10 inches.

An asphalt pavement modification system and method for improving aging resistance of asphalt pavement and a method of manufacturing reclaimed asphalt pavement. The asphalt pavement modification system and method include using one or more antioxidants and one or more recycling agents in a blended binder to provide improved short term and long term performance of the asphalt pavement. The method of manufacturing reclaimed asphalt pavement includes mixing at least one antioxidant with at least one recycling agent to form a binder that constitutes a portion of the reclaimed asphalt pavement. One of the antioxidants may be zinc diethyldithiocarbamate.

An asphalt pavement modification system and method for improving aging resistance of asphalt pavement and a method of manufacturing reclaimed asphalt pavement. The asphalt pavement modification system and method include using one or more antioxidants and one or more recycling agents in a blended binder to provide improved short term and long term performance of the asphalt pavement. The method of manufacturing reclaimed asphalt pavement includes mixing at least one antioxidant with at least one recycling agent to form a binder that constitutes a portion of the reclaimed asphalt pavement. One of the antioxidants may be zinc diethyldithiocarbamate.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide encapsulation of waste (2) materials in a first (1), double (5), triple (7), or even quadruple (44) encapsulation. Encapsulation may include waste (2), ash (4), Portland cement (3), water, chemicals, or the like. Agglomerates formed perhaps with high energy mixing may be processed, cured, or the like.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide encapsulation of waste (2) materials in a first (1), double (5), triple (7), or even quadruple (44) encapsulation. Encapsulation may include waste (2), ash (4), Portland cement (3), water, chemicals, or the like. Agglomerates formed perhaps with high energy mixing may be processed, cured, or the like.

A multi-slug staged method for plugging a fractured formation includes: determining an average opening of fractures around a well as D, an average particle size of bridging particles for first-stage plugging as D.sub.1 that is slightly less than D, and average particle sizes of plugging particles for second to last-stage plugging as D.sub.2-D.sub.n, where D.sub.n is small enough to form a tight plugging layer; and sequentially injecting a plugging slurry only containing the bridging particles having the average particle size of D.sub.1, plugging slurries containing the plugging particles having the average particle sizes of D.sub.2-D.sub.n-1, and a plugging slurry containing the plugging particles having the average particle size of D.sub.n into the fractures to achieve the fractured formation plugging.

A multi-slug staged method for plugging a fractured formation includes: determining an average opening of fractures around a well as D, an average particle size of bridging particles for first-stage plugging as D.sub.1 that is slightly less than D, and average particle sizes of plugging particles for second to last-stage plugging as D.sub.2-D.sub.n, where D.sub.n is small enough to form a tight plugging layer; and sequentially injecting a plugging slurry only containing the bridging particles having the average particle size of D.sub.1, plugging slurries containing the plugging particles having the average particle sizes of D.sub.2-D.sub.n-1, and a plugging slurry containing the plugging particles having the average particle size of D.sub.n into the fractures to achieve the fractured formation plugging.

This disclosure is directed to an improved ballistic concrete barrier for stopping projectiles with a kinetic energy of between about 1.0 kJ (750 foot-pounds) and 20.3 kJ (15,000 foot-pounds) in between about 3 inches and 10 inches. In one embodiment, the ballistic concrete barrier comprises (a) about 1 part by mass Portland cement; (b) about 0.5 to 1.5 part by mass fine aggregate; (c) about 0.005 to 0.15 part by mass fiber; (d) about 0.005 to 0.05 part by mass calcium phosphate; (e) about 0.005 to 0.05 part by mass aluminum hydroxide; and (f) about 0.0005 to 0.05 part by mass air entrainment additive, such that the ballistic concrete barrier is capable of stopping a fifty caliber bullet in less than 10 inches from a point of entry into the barrier.