The bottom mud removed from the eastern basin in the bottom mud cleaning of the Izmit Bay, which is Turkey's largest environmental project of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, is turned into works of art as well as linings and bricks at Kocaeli University.
In the studies on using mud as a building material, initiated by Kocaeli University (KOU) Rector Prof. Dr. Nuh Zafer Canturk, Engineering Faculty Dean Tamer Sinmazcelik and KOU Civil Engineering Department Building Materials Department Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Salih Taner Yildirim take parts.
Prof. Dr. Salih Taner Yildirim
Prof. Dr. Yildirim stated that they are working to recycle bottom mud and contribute to the country's economy and that the R&D processes of the products are continuing. Yildirim said “If we produce these products, they can be used in materials. We will expand the existing clay and use it as aggregate into the material. Our preference will be to use sand and gravel. In this case, it is possible to produce more wall material types or concrete type materials with lighter aggregate.”
Also suitable for artistic use
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nermin Demirkol
The use of the bottom mud of the bay is not limited to building materials. From Kocaeli University Faculty of Fine Arts, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nermin Demirkol and her team are also developing solutions to use this clay in artistic fields. Emphasizing that bottom mud is an important raw material, Demirkol said, “We also examined bottom mud within the scope of the studies initiated by our Rector. We started working with the dried bottom mud that came to us. First, I looked at the chemical analysis with XRF. I saw that it contains the basic elements we use in the ceramic industry. After this, I realized that ceramic clay could be made from this clay and I started working"
Realizing that bottom mud cannot be used alone in the ceramic industry, although it can be shaped without using any additives, Demirkol created special recipes for this. In this way, bottom mud will be able to be used by ceramic artists and fine arts faculty students as an alternative raw material source to clay purchased in very large quantities from outside.
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