Sand plays a big role in construction. It is added to various mixtures that are used to make blocks, concrete and plaster mortars. They also strengthen embankments and roads. The product is used not only natural, but also artificial.
Depending on the type of production, there is alluvial, quarry, river or sea sand. Alluvial (washed) sand is an environmentally friendly material that allows water to pass through. It contains almost no clay and stones.
Method of production
The product is "knocked out" with a large pressure of water in a hydromechanical way, removing all solid particles. It becomes smaller and more homogeneous, its quality increases. Today, alluvial sand is in great demand in construction.
Features:
- foreign particles in the mixture is not more than 0.3%;
- radioactivity class - first;
- densification factor – 1.05-1.52;
- large filtration factor.
Alluvial sand can be fine-grained,medium-grained and coarse-grained. Its average value is 0.6 mm. The color depends on what impurities are present in the material. White or grayish color has pure quartz sand. If the shade is rather brown or yellow, iron oxides are present in the material.
Application
Sand alluvial use:
- for the manufacture of curbs, columns, reinforced concrete rings, paving slabs;
- as filler solutions;
- for finishing work.
Fire alluvial sand (washed) has a number of advantages over conventional quarry material (unwashed).
Dignity
- Does not contain clay particles (unlike unwashed quarry sand, which has to be sieved).
- Excluded the content of large stones and earth.
- No organic matter.
- No need for additional cleaning.
The use of pure rock is of great importance in construction. There are ways to clean the material. If it is necessary to wash a small amount of the product, then it is sieved and water is supplied. In advance, you need to worry about the container where the mixture will be poured. The water is changed several times until the material is clean.
You can also buy alluvial sand, the price of which is higher than seeded. Its advantage is that it is already clean. There is a traditional way to clean the mixture. Take a metal mesh stretched over a frame. First, the mixture is sifted through a mesh, and then washed in a container.
There are jobs in construction that require the use of large crystals. To do this, take a frame with a grid of 5-10 mm. It is installed strictly horizontally on bricks (4-5 pieces in each corner). The mesh is lined with burlap. The mixture is poured from above, leveling it, and water is supplied under pressure from a hose.
Sometimes a sand mixture with impurities of earth and other suspensions is used in construction. It is acceptable to use when it is not required that the work be done using only quality materials. For example, you need to fill up a plot above the ground or a trench.
Both natural and artificial sand finds its application. The strength of products depends on the quality of the building mixture.
