Manufactured Sand, a Solution and an Alternative to River Sand in Concrete Manufacturing

Abstract

Scarcity of good quality Natural River sand due to depletion of resources and restriction due to environmental consideration has made concrete manufactures to look for suitable alternative fine aggregate. One such alternative is “Manufactured sand”. Though manufactured sand has been in use in concrete manufacturing in India, the percentage of its contribution is still very negligible in many parts of the country. Except in Kerala and in some pockets in Southern and Western India, real processed manufacture sand is not available and this makes manufacturing of good quality of concrete very difficult. The application of concrete meeting the specification is of paramount importance, to ensure construction of durable R.C.C. structure. Hence durable concrete covers and bears the responsibility of sustaining the entire R.C.C. structure throughout it service life. A well processed manufactured sand as partial or full replacement to river sand is the need of the hour as a long term solution in Indian concrete industry until other suitable alternative fine aggregate are developed.

Keywords: manufactured sand, fine aggregate, concrete, compressive strength, workability