I have tried a mixture of cement, quarry powder and rubble for concrete and the strength is extremely good. I want to know if this is a safe procedure in terms of lasting life.
This mixture will not give you good life nor will it have good tinsel strength Use the proper mixture of sand, portland cement and stone for concrete.
not sure but iv never heard it used before.for concrete what my firm uses is 4parts concrete mix(a mix of type1 aggregate and sharp sand)to1 part ordinary portland cement and sufficient water to make the mix workable.bear in mind concrete cures at roughly an inch a month
This would depend on the type of rock that is being quarried. For example limestone would not be acceptable, but granite probably would be fine. You would have to look at sieve proportions on youor quarry dust to make sure you don't get too much fine powder. Same argument with your rubble. You would also probably have to play some with ratios and water content to get the right mix. You would also need to have extensive testing to get it approved for use in a commercial setting.
Ideally what you want to have is a wide range of aggragate sizes for the best concrete, with a good variation in sizes from small to large. It seems to me that if you took the quarry dust and mixed it towther with a latex fortifier and portland cement you could make a good thinset mortar, which would be better suited for thinner applications and small cracks and joints.
You mentioned that you have tried a mixture od cement, quarry powder and rubble for mixing concrete and you found that the strength is extremely good. In the building industry, good strength is confirmed by producing 6 inch test cubes and when they have set after 7 days and 14 days, they are crushed to failure with their strength recorded. And not guage by feel. Also the Cement:Sand and granite mixture comes in many different batches for different types of works. For high strength concrete the 1:2: 4 mix is used (for column and load bearing structures) other mixes 1:3:6, or 1:5:8 for low strength structures or fillers. The sand and granite used must also follow a certain grading of different sizes mainly to fill up the voids among the particles to provided good bonding of the cement paste. In conclusion, if you are concreting load bearing structures, you should get the professionals to do it. Else you may one day be sleeping under some fallen concrete structures. That will be too late.
