Products and services
Portland-Limestone Cement
A new cement class, called Portland-limestone cement (PLC), is being introduced in the Canadian market. PLC is already included in the CSA A 3000 Cementitious Materials Compendium and the CSA A 23.1 Concrete Materials and Methods of Construction guidelines. It is referenced in the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) and in the Ontario Building Code (OBC) as of the beginning of 2011. Although new to Canada, PLC has been used in Europe for over 25 years.
What is Portland-Limestone Cement?
While regular Portland cement may contain up to 5% limestone, PLC is manufactured by intergrinding Portland cement clinker with 6% - 15% limestone. The clinker used to produce PLC is the same used to manufacture regular Portland cement.
PLC produces a concrete as strong and durable as that made with regular Portland cement. It is suitable for a variety of applications from cast-in-place to masonry, and precast to ready-mixed concrete; it is not currently approved for use in applications where sulphate resistance is required. When blending PLC with supplementary cementing materials (SCM), such as slag or fly ash, similar performance is achieved as when they are used in combination with Portland cement.
Strong Environmental and Sustainable Construction Credentials
• PLC manufacturing generates significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions and up to 10% fewer CO 2 emissions because up to 15% of the clinker used to produce regular Portland cement is replaced by limestone.
• Producing PLC reduces natural resource consumption since 1.6 tons of limestone are required to obtain 1 ton of clinker.
• Limestone is quarried locally and, as a result, its use reduces vehicular emissions linked to transporting materials over long distances compared to some other mineral components.
Availability
Both the Mississauga and Joliette cement plants currently manufacture PLC, and the material has already been supplied for trials in Ontario and Quebec.
For more information, view the full release here.
