WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF SAND

- Akshat Kumar Goel

Student of Sinhgad College Of Architecture

Abstract :
Natural sand is a material used for the preparation of concrete. River erosion and other environmental
issues have led to the scarcity of river sand. It is necessary today to find new alternatives materials so
that river erosion is prevented and high strength concrete is obtained at aa lower cost. This paper
summarizes conclusions of surveys and case studies done to obtained perfect alternative material
having high strength and locally available with low cost and high workability. Comparison done between
the materials to check which is better and whether the chemical and physical properties of the new
materials are similar to that of river sand. Results have shown positive approach towards the new
alternatives to be used in construction with concrete.
KEYWORDS : Concrete, Natural Sand, Alternative materials, Quarry dust, Foundry sand, Copper slag,
Mechanical and Physical properties.
INTRODUCTION :
India consumes an estimated 450 million cubic meter of concrete annually which approximately comes
to 1 tonne per Indian. Use of the alternative materials such as fly ash, slag, quarry dust, construction
waste, not only help in conserving our precious natural resources but also increase the durability of the
structures. Waste products has provided a specific effect on the properties of fresh and hardened
concrete. The use of waste products in concrete not only makes it economical but also helps in reducing
disposal waste.
Effectiveness of new alternatives over sand used in construction :
Prevention of soil erosion, High strength concrete is obtained at lower cost, Use of waste product in a
more effective manner, Reduction of disposal problems of waste products.
AIM AND OBJECTIVES :
AIM- To find new alternatives of sand used in construction with respect to workability, durability,
strength, availability and cost.
OBJECTIVE - To study the properties of the materials suitable to replace sand.
Material should be in abundant quantity and easily available.
LITERATURE STUDY :
4A- Polymer-Cement Mortar with Quarry Waste as Sand Replacement.[1]
Summary - This article presents the technological application of this solid waste in a new polymeric
material with properties similar to those of a traditional mortar. It is concluded that the polymeric material
uses low amounts of cement with respect to the traditional mortar. It did not allow to decrease resistance
due to the fine nature of the materials in addition to maintaining the workability of the material .
4B- Use of stone powder in concrete and mortar as an alternative of sand.[2]
Summary - Stone powder produced from stone crushing zones appears as a problem for effective
disposal. In this study, the main concern is to find an alternative of sand. Substitution of normal sand
by stone powder will serve both solid waste minimization and waste recovery. The study focuses to
determine the relative performance of concrete by using powder sand. Concrete from brick chip and
stone powder produce higher compressive value from that of brick chip and normal sand concrete.
4C- Papercrete Bricks - An Alternative Sustainable Building Material.[3]
Summary - Papercrete is a new composite material comprising of waste papers and cement. In this
investigation, an attempt is made to produce an alternative material using waste papers. This could
help eradicate a few of the environmental hazards caused by the construction industry.
4D- Recent Trends in Replacement of Natural Sand With Different Alternatives.[4]
Summary - Many researchers are finding different materials to replace sand and one of the major
materials is quarry stone dust. Using different proportion of these quarry dust along with sand the
required concrete mix can be obtained. This paper presents a review of the different alternatives to
natural sand in preparation of mortar and concrete. The paper emphasize on the physical and
mechanical properties and strength aspect on mortar and concrete.
4E- Replacement of Natural Sand with Efficient Alternatives: Recent Advances in Concrete
Technology.[5]
Summary - Partial or full replacement of natural sand by the other alternative materials like quarry dust,
foundry sand and others are being researched from past two decades, in view of conserving the
ecological balance. This paper summarizes conclusions of experiments conducted for the properties
like strength, durability etc. It was observed the results have shown positive changes and improvement
in mechanical properties of the conventional concrete due to the addition or replacement of fine sand
with efficient alternatives.
4F- Replacement of Natural Sand in concrete by Waste Products : A State Of Art. [6]
Summary - In this paper an attempt is made to present a state-of the- art review of papers on
replacement of natural sand by by-products and recyclable materials. This paper aims to deal with the
current and future trends of research on the use of Manufactured Fine Aggregate (MFA) in Portland
cement concrete. With natural sand deposits the world over drying up, there is an acute need for a
product that matches the properties of natural sand in concrete.
RESULTS:
These papers presented in view of alternatives available in place of natural sand in mortar and concrete.
There are various materials available, which are recognized as waste product of industry or from
Domestic. But from the above conclusion shows that many researchers have recognized these
materials and spent their valuable time and shared their knowledge to make aware of these materials
for the construction industry. They showed that no material in the world is waste, but one has to see it
in different way to recognize, how best the waste can be handled. Few alternative materials discussed
in this paper are from hard work of various research scholars. But those materials can be utilized
effectively for concrete mix and building mortar and awareness should be spread to society. The
utilization of these materials should be in such a way that the locally available such alternative materials
should be selected so as to achieve economy and required design strength.
ANALYSIS :
OVERVIEW : Concrete is the second largest consumable material after water, with nearly three tonnes
used annually for each person on the earth. India consumes an estimated 450 million cubic meter of
concrete annually and which approximately comes to 1 ton per Indian. Bureau of Indian Standards, the
National Standards Body of the country, considering the scarcity of sand from natural sources, has
evolved number of alternatives which are ultimately aimed at conservation of natural resources apart
from promoting use of various waste materials without compromising in quality. use of these alternative
materials such as fly ash, slag, not only help in conserving our precious natural resources but also
improve the durability of structures made using these.
Material specifications :
Copper Slag : At present about 33 million tons of copper slag is generating annually worldwide among
that India contributing 6 to 6.5 million tons. 50% copper slag can be used as replacement of natural
sand in to obtain mortar and concrete with required performance, strength and durability. The results
showed the effect of copper slag on RCC concrete elements has a considerable amount of increase in
the compressive, split tensile, flexural strength characteristics and energy absorption characteristics.

Granulated Blast Furnace Slag : GBFS has been adopted for its superiority in concrete durability,
extending the lifespan of buildings from fifty years to a hundred years. The compressive strength of
cement mortar increases as the replacement level of granulated blast furnace slag increases. He further
concludes that from the test results it is clear that GBFS sand can be used as an alternative to natural
sand from the point of view of strength. Use of GBFS up to 75% can be recommended. It is glassy
particle and granular materials in nature and has a similar particle size range like sand. The workability
can be increased by adding suitable dosage of chemical admixture such as super plasticizer.

Washed bottom ash : The WBA is a waste material that is taken from electric power plant and the
source material is called as bottom ash. It illustrated the bottom ash dispose at the bottom furnace and
fly ash is dispose to atmosphere by very tall chimney. Generally, all concrete with WBA replacement
has increment in strength until long term duration i.e. at 60 days. Different concrete mixes with constant
water to cement ratio of 0.55 were prepared with WBA in different proportions as well as one control
mixed proportion. The mechanical properties of special concrete with 30% WBA replacement by weight
of natural sand is found to be an optimum usage in concrete in order to get a favorable strength and
good strength development pattern over the increment ages.
Quarry dust : Quarry dust is fine rock particles. When boulders are broken into small pieces quarry
dust is formed. It is grey in color and it is like fine aggregate. In concrete production it could be used as
a partial or full replacement of natural sand. Besides, the utilization of quarry waste, which itself is a
waste material, will reduce the cost of concrete production. There is an increase in the compressive
strength of the concrete which the increment is about 55% to 75% depending on the replacement if the
sand with the quarry dust, for the 100% replacement of the sand the compressive strength is depending
on the quarry dust location from where the quarry dust was taken. The workability of the concrete is
decreasing when the replacement percentage of the quarry dust is increasing gradually; so as to
increase the workability small quantity of the fly-ash is replaced in place of cement to increase the
workability.

Foundry sand : Foundry sand is sand which when moistened and compressed or oiled or heated tends
to pack well and hold its shape. It is used in the process of sand casting. India ranks fourth in terms of
total foundry production. Foundry sand which is very high in silica is regularly discarded by the metal
industry. Currently, there is no mechanism for its disposal, but international studies say that up to 50
per cent foundry sand can be utilized for economical and sustainable development of concrete.
This low cost concrete with good strength is used in rigid pavement for 3000 commercial vehicles per
day and Dry Lean Concrete (DLC) 100mm thick for national highway to make it eco-friendly . The
maximum compressive strength was achieved with 50% replacement of fine aggregate with waste
foundry sand and it was found that there is overall increase in the split tensile strength and flexural
strength of plain concrete.

Sheet Glass Powder : The use of recycled glass as aggregate greatly enhances the aesthetic appeal
of the concrete. Natural sand was partially replaced (10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%) with SGP.
Compressive strength, Tensile strength (cubes and cylinders) and Flexural strength up to 180 days of
age were compared with those of concrete made with natural fine aggregates. The compressive
strength of cubes and cylinders of the concrete for all mix increases as the % of SGP increases but
decreases as the age of curing increases due to alkali silica reaction. The Tensile strength of cubes
and cylinders of the concrete for all mix increases than that of conventional concrete age of curing and
decreases as the SGP content increases. The Flexural strength of the beam of concrete for all mix
increases with age of curing and decreases as the SGP content increases. 100% replacement of SGP
in concrete showed better results than that of conventional concrete at 28 days and 45 days curing but
later it started to decrease its strength because of its alkali silica reactions. SGP is available in significant
quantities as a waste and can be utilized for making concrete. This will go a long way to reduce the
quantity of waste in our environment. The optimum replacement level in fine aggregate with SGP is
10%.

Construction and demolition waste: Construction and demolition waste is generated whenever any
construction/demolition activity takes place, such as, building roads, bridges, fly over, subway,
remodelling etc. It consists mostly of inert and non biodegradable material such as concrete, plaster,
metal, wood, plastics etc. A part of this waste comes to the municipal stream. These wastes are heavy,
having high density, often bulky and occupy considerable storage space either on the road or communal
waste container. It constitutes about 10-20% of the municipal solid waste. The density of the concrete
decreases as the percentage of the CWSB content increases. Concrete containing up to 50% CWSB
as fine aggregate compared favourably with normal concrete mixture and therefore 50% CWSB content
is taken as the optimum for 30N/mm2 design characteristic strength.

Crushed Spent Fire Bricks : Fire bricks are the products manufactured from refractory grog, plastic,
and non plastic clays of high purity. An experimental investigation of strength and durability was
undertaken to use “Spent Fire Bricks” for partial replacement of fine aggregate in concrete. The
compressive strength of partial replacement of Crushed Spent Fire Bricks (CSFB) aggregate concrete
is marginally higher than that of the river sand aggregate concrete at age of 7, 14 and 28 days. The
split tensile strength of partial replacement of CSFB aggregate concrete is higher than that of the river
sand aggregate at all ages. The modulus of elasticity of partial replacement of CSFB aggregate
concrete is marginally higher than that of the river sand aggregate concrete. On an overall, the CSFB
can be comparable to the natural river sand.
 MATERIAL ANALYSIS :

%age OF QUANTITY OF COST(in COST OF PLACES

SR. TYPE OF
MATERIAL SOURCE SAND PRODUCTION/ RS) SAND AVAILABLE
NO MATERIAL
REPLACED YEAR / TON /TON LOCALLY
Metal Madhya Pradesh,
Waste 6.5 million
1) COPPER SLAG Smelting 50% 1200 2500 Jharkhand, West
Product tonnes
Process Bengal, Gujarat
GRANULATED Quenching Jharkhand,
Waste 10 million
2) GLASS molten iron 75% 2000 2500 Orissa, Gujarat,
Product tonnes
FURNACE SLAG slag Maharashtra
Chattisgarh,
WASHED Electric Waste 17 million Madhya Pradesh,
3) 40% 1000 2500
BOTTOM ASH power plant Product tonnes Jharkhand,
Andhra Pradesh
Rajasthan, Bihar,
Breaking
Waste Gujarat, Andhra
4) QUARRY DUST down stone 75% 8 million tonnes 700 2500
Product Pradesh,
aggregates
Madhya Pradesh
Process of
Waste 7.8 million Jharkhand,
5) FOUNDRY SAND sand 50% 1200 2500
Product tonnes Chattisgarh
casting
SHEET GLASS Crushed Waste
6) 10% 2 million tonnes 12000 2500 Construction sites
POWDER glass Product
CONSTRUCTION
Buildings,
AND Waste 24 million
7) roads, 50% - 2500 Construction sites
DEMOLITION Product tonnes
bridges
WASTE
CRUSHED
Refractory Waste 20 million
8) SPENT FIRE 50% - 2500 Construction sites
grog Product tonnes
BRICKS
Source – Internet(www.business-standard.com,www.globalslag.com,www.exportersindia.com)

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION :

According to analysis of materials from the table above;
Most effective alternative on concrete : Granulated Blast Furnace Slag and Quarry Dust.
Most abundantly produced : Construction and Demolition Waste
Cheapest : Quarry Dust
With the rapid increase in urban development , the requirement of sand in construction is also
increasing. This increase the risk of river erosion and other issues which results in scarcity of river sand.
New alternatives to sand will help to prevent soil erosion.
High strength concrete is obtained at a lower cost. Durability and compressive strength of the structures
will increase.This research shows that no material in the world is waste and if utilized properly such
materials will improve sustainability by reducing the human consumption of natural resources. The use
of these materials should be in such a way that the locally available alternative materials should be
selected so as to achieve economy and required design strength.Reduction of disposal problems of
waste products. These new alternatives can extend the life of structures, with increase in durability.
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