Concrete Crushing

Removed concrete does not have to become landfill. CDS partners with licensed crushing facilities and operates mobile crushing programs to turn slabs, walls, and pavement back into usable aggregate — on the same site where it came out, or at a central yard, whichever suits the project budget.

For general contractors tracking waste diversion on LEED and CAGBC projects, concrete crushing is one of the easiest wins available. For civil contractors, it cuts haul costs to a fraction of fresh stone.

What Concrete Crushing Produces

A crushed-concrete program typically yields:

• Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) — graded, reusable material for structural fill, sub-base under paving, pipe bedding, and road base.
• Separated rebar — magnetically recovered during the crushing pass and sold to scrap metal streams.
• Reduced volume — a crushed pile occupies roughly 60 to 70 percent of the original demolition volume, cutting truck trips.

The resulting RCA meets OPSS gradations for sub-base on many municipal and MTO projects when tested properly.

Our Concrete Crushing Workflow

Pre-demolition review

We audit what you are removing — thickness, rebar density, embedded services, contamination. This informs the crusher setup, screen sizes, and whether on-site or facility crushing is the better economic choice.

Controlled removal

Our cut-and-lift removal produces cleaner stockpiles for crushing. Jackhammered debris is slower to feed and contains more fines. Sawn sections feed faster and preserve more aggregate.

Crushing and screening

Jaw crushers reduce large sections; impact crushers tighten the gradation; screens sort to the spec you need — 3/4-inch minus, 2-inch minus, rip-rap, whatever the downstream use calls for.

Rebar and contaminant removal

Magnets pull rebar on conveyor; manual picking handles wood, plastic, and other job-site debris that always shows up in demo piles.

Stockpile and retest

Stockpiles are sampled and tested against the receiving spec. We supply the paperwork your engineer or municipality will ask for.

When Concrete Crushing Pays Off

• Demolition projects above roughly 500 tonnes of concrete waste
• Sites that will need granular backfill after demolition (crush and reuse)
• Road rehabilitation with existing concrete base
• LEED-tracked builds with diversion targets
• Remote sites where hauling virgin aggregate is expensive

Why CDS for Crushing Work

We bring the full chain — scanning, cutting, demolition, and crushing — under one point of responsibility. That eliminates the schedule gaps that cost projects days when removal, hauling, and crushing are split across three companies. Our operators have been on Ontario demolition sites for decades, and our crushing partners meet MOECC permit requirements.

Serving Hamilton and All of Ontario

From our Hamilton shop at 276 Ferrie St E, crews reach Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto, Brampton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge, St. Catharines, Niagara, London, and every point between. For projects in Northern Ontario, Eastern Ontario, or remote sites, we mobilize with self-contained power and water so work does not stall on access.

Concrete Crushing FAQ

Can you crush on my project site?

Yes, where local zoning and permit conditions allow. Mobile crushers can set up in a few hours and run continuously through the demolition stream.

What sizes of aggregate can you produce?

Common outputs include 3/4-inch minus, 1-inch minus, 2-inch minus, and rip-rap. We set screens to the receiving spec.

Is recycled concrete aggregate as strong as virgin stone?

For sub-base, fill, and pipe bedding, RCA performs comparably to virgin granular material and is accepted by most Ontario municipalities. For structural concrete, virgin aggregate is still the norm.

Do you handle rebar separately?

Yes — magnetic separators pull rebar during crushing and we route it to licensed scrap metal processors. Revenue is credited back on most jobs.

What about contaminated concrete?

Concrete with lead paint, asbestos, or hydrocarbon contamination must be handled per Ontario Regulation 347. We coordinate with licensed abatement contractors before any crushing begins.

Crushing Economics

Crushing is not automatic — it has to pencil out against haul-away costs. Several variables decide the answer: demolition volume, local aggregate prices, haul distance to disposal versus to a crushing yard, and whether the site has space to stockpile. As a rough planning number, crushed RCA typically runs 40 to 60 percent of the delivered cost of virgin granular. Haul savings add another 10 to 30 percent depending on distance. On a demolition of 1,000+ tonnes, those numbers add up fast.

Permits and Noise

On-site crushing requires attention to local bylaw compliance — noise limits, hours of operation, and dust control. We plan each project against the municipal requirements before we mobilize. In some jurisdictions, a temporary crushing permit is needed; we file it if so. Quieter impact crushers and sound-attenuated power units keep us inside typical urban limits.

What about concrete with embedded wire mesh?

Mesh-reinforced slabs feed well through modern jaw and impact crushers. The mesh separates magnetically like rebar. A pre-screening pass removes large wire chunks before primary crushing.

This service falls under concrete cutting services. Below are the most directly related services from the same team — and a couple from our other practice area when the work overlaps.

Related Services

If the scope of your project also touches the areas below, this is where to start:

• slab and footing removal
• cut-and-lift demolition
• interior and structural demo
• patch and slab-section cut-out

From our other practice area:

• interior and structural demo
• Ontario demolition contractor

Quotes by phone: (905) 529-6029 (Hamilton) or 1-800-241-5708 (toll-free across Ontario).

Based in Hamilton, CDS serves projects across Ontario — see our where we work across Ontario, including concrete contractor service in Ottawa, London and Windsor.