Experimental investigation on impact of sand mining in coastal regions and potential reuse of silica sand as construction material

Abstract

High quality silica sand has been consumed by foundry in large quantity for casting and moulding process. Foundry successfully recycles and reuses the sand. When it can no longer be reused, it is removed from foundry, termed as Waste Foundry Sand (WFS) and normally disposed off in landfill. The dumping of the fine fraction of WFS and the continuous depletion of sand for construction are two serious environmental problems that can be solved simultaneously by using WFS as construction material. The study aims to determine the optimum percentage of WFS for partial replacement of fine aggregate in concrete and concluded that WFS could be used in making good quality concrete.