Ever thought why sea and desert sand aren't use for construction?

Sand is basically classified into three kinds depending on grain sizes, as unrefined, medium and fine. The determination of these parts is crucial as they influence the engineering aspects and performance of sands as pavement layers in terms of elasticity, durability, and bearing ability. The shape of sand particles influences its impenetrability and cohesion and overall construction behavior. Softly rounded particles would endeavor less resistance to disorder than bent or stretched particles with uneven surfaces.

Sea and desert sands rarely gratify the compulsion of established specifications for usage as a construction material, particularly in their natural state. Desert sand grits are refined and smoother so their surface chemistry would not be adequate to endeavor an ample number of multidirectional chemical correlations. If their grit size is too small, the fluid slip and the concrete would have poor stability. Desert sands carry an open structure, and there is meager interlock between sand grains. If this sand is preserved dry, these connect bridges provide reasonable bearing strength. But if the sand becomes wet, the bridges soften and when overburden, the bridges break and collapse.

Sea sand also is likely to be very refined and rounded. In seawater, the existence of chloride will cause erosion of steel and iron which eventually leads to lowering the carrying capacity of steel and iron, so that the construction done using this may not be feasible. Sea sand does not have high compact vitality, high tensile tenacity, etc so it cannot be used in construction activities. In addition to this, the salt in sea sand is likely to absorb mist from the atmosphere, leading to dampness. By Dr. SAINUDEEN PATTAZHY, Kollam, Kerala.