Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles. The most common constituent is silica. Sand is classified based on its formation, composition, and grain size. The main natural sources are pit sand, river sand, and sea sand. Artificial sources include recycled sand and crushed stones. Good sand is clean, coarse, chemically inert, and well graded. It is used widely in construction for mortar, concrete, and plastering. The composition and properties of sand determine its suitability for different construction applications.

1. SAND
Ajay Kumar Braswal

4. Introduction
• Sand is a naturally occurring granular material
composed of finely divided rock and mineral
particles.
• The most common constituent of sand is silica (silica
dioxide or SiO₂), usually in the form of quartz.
• It is formed by the decomposition of SANDSTONES
due to various weathering agents, like- water, air,
temperature variations.

5. Composition
• The composition of mineral sand is highly variable,
depending on the local rock sources and conditions.
• The bright white sands found in tropical and
subtropical coastal setting are eroded limestone and
may contain coral and shell fragments in addition to
other organic or organically derived fragmental
material, suggesting sand formation depends on living
organisms, too.
• The gypsum sand dunes of the white sands national
monument in new mexico are famous for their bright,
white color. Arkose is a sand or sandstone with
considerable feldspar content, derived from
weathering and erosion of a granitic rock outcrop.

6. Continued…
• Some sands contains magnetite, chlorite, glauconite or
gypsum. Sands rich in magnetite are dark to black
color, as are sands derived from volcanic basalts and
obsidian. Chlorite-glauconite bearing sands are
typically green in color, as are sands derived from
basaltic lava with a high olivine content.
• Many sands, especially those found extensively in
southern Europe, have iron impurities within the
quartz crystals of the sand, giving a deep yellow color.
• Sand deposits in some areas contains garnets and
other resistant minerals, including some small
gemstones.

7. Composition of Sand
Sand Classification
Methods of
Formation
Natural sources
Pit Sand
River Sand
Sea Sand
Artificial sources
Recycled sand
(crushing building
debris material)
Crushed boulders
and stones
Composition
Clean sand
Well graded sand
Poorly Graded
sand
Sand With fines
Silty sand
(Mixture of sand
and silt)
Clayey Sand
(Mixture of sand
and clay)
Grain size
distribution
Coarse sand
Medium sand
Fine sand

8. Classification on the basis of formation

9. Natural Sources of Sand
• Pit Sand
• River Sand
• Sea Sand

10. PIT SAND
• Pit sand is obtained by forming pits in soils.
• Pit sand is a coarse type of sand with rough grains and are
obtained from pits 1-2m below the top soil.
• Pit sand is found deposit soil and it consist of rough, sharp,
angular, and coarse grains which is essential for binding of
particles.

11. PIT SAND
• It serves as an excellent material for mortar or concrete work.
• It must be made free from clay and other organic material before it
can be used in mortar.
• The sand grains are free from salts hence does not show
deliquescence, i.e. does not absorb moisture content from air and
damage the structure.
• The coating of iron oxide over the sand grains should be removed.
• Pit sand is generally red-orange in colour, due to a coating of iron
oxide.
• Pit sand is classified under coarse sand which is called Badarpur in
common language.
• It is widely used for construction and building of permanent
structures due to its superior binding qualities.

13. Extraction of Pit Sand

14. RIVER SAND
• River Sand is widely used for all purposes. It is obtained
from the banks or beds of rivers and it consists of fine
rounded grains.
• The presence of fine rounded grains is due to mutual
attrition under the action of water current.

15. River Sand
• River sand is available in clean conditions.
• It is almost white in color.
• Mainly used for plastering
• In North India, Yamuna banks are a great source of river sand.

16. Extraction of River Sand

17. SEA SAND
• Sea Sand obtained from sea shores.
• It is brown in color and it has fine rounded grains.
• As it is obtained from sea it contains salt, which is used in
attracting moisture from atmosphere.

18. SEA SAND
• Such absorption causes dampness and efflorescence
disintegration of work.
• It is generally not used for engineering works due to its
regard setting action of cement.
• It is normally used for non structural purposes like filling.

19. Extraction of Sea Sand

20. ARTIFICAL SOURCES OF SAND
• Recycled sand (Crushed building debris materials)
• Crushed boulders and stones

21. RECYCLED SAND
• The sand from industrial wastes can be recycled for
application in civil engineering and called “used foundry
sand”,” waste foundry sand” or “spent foundry sand”.
• Recycled bedding sand are made from the crushing and
screening of recycled materials such as concrete and brick.
• Recycled bedding sands generally offer a cost benefit when
compared to the quarried bedding sand, and are widely
within the industry.
• Recycled concrete sand is made from concrete structures that
are demolished and put into a crushing machines until it
forms a coarse sand.
• Using recycled concrete sand reduces construction costs and
is a much better environment solution.

23. Crushed Sand
• Crushed Sand also known as crushed stone.
• Due to shortage of natural sand, stones are crushed into
required size.
• It is a substitute for river sand, fine aggregates which
manufactured by crushing either granite or basalt rock using 3
stage crushing process.
• It is also obtained as a by product when rocks are crushed to
get coarse aggregates.

24. CHRUSHER

25. Classification on the basis of
Composition

26. Clean Sand
• These are well graded sand containing mostly quartz
[Silica(SiO₂)].
• It is free from any organic or inorganic impurities.
• It is perfect for construction purposes.

27. Silty Sand
• These are poorly graded sand with considerable amount of
silt.
• The size of silt particles are very small and form lump
• Not good for construction purpose

28. Clayey Sand
• This sand have prominent clay fraction and plastic fines.
• Traditionally used for the construction of walls
• Also used as mortar for brick because of its high adhesive
property.

29. Classification on the basis of size of
Particles

30. Classification of sand as per ISSCS (Indian
Standard Soil Classification System)
Type of Particle Size of Particle (mm)
Boulder > 300
Cobble 80 – 300
Gravel (G) Coarse 20 – 80
Fine 4.75 – 20
Sand Coarse 2 - 4.75
Medium 0.425 – 2
Fine 0.075 - 0.425
Silt (M) 0.002 – 0.075
Clay (C) < 0.002

31. Gravelly Sand
• The sand passing through the sieve of 7.62mm is known as
Gravelly Sand.
• It is generally used for concrete work.

32. Coarse Sand
• The sand passing through a sieve with clear opening 3.5mm is
known as coarse sand.
• Coarse sand is generally used for masonry work.

33. Fine Sand
• The sand passing through a sieve with clean openings of
1.5mm is known as Fine Sand.
• Fine sand is mainly used for plastering.

34. • Based on grain sizes IS:383-1970 classifies sand to be used in four zones.
• For this sand should be sieved through a set of IS sieves of sizes 10mm,
4.75mm, 2.36mm, 1.18mm, 600microns, 300microns, 150microns.
• The percentage of sand passing through sieve should be noted.
IS Sieve
Grading Zone
Grading Zone I Grading Zone
II
Grading Zone
III
Grading Zone
IV
10 mm 100 100 100 100
4.75 mm 90 – 100 90 – 100 90 – 100 90 - 100
2.36 mm 60 - 95 75 – 100 85 – 100 95 -100
1.18 mm 30 – 70 55 – 90 75 – 100 90 – 100
600 microns 15 – 34 35 - 59 60 – 79 80 - 100
300 microns 5 – 20 8 – 30 12 - 40 15 - 50
150 microns 0 - 10 0 – 10 0 – 10 0 - 15

35. Sand Used in Construction Works
 It is the basic material for every construction.
 Most of the raw material for construction consists of
some ratio of sand.
 Different construction works require different standards of
sand for construction.
1. Brick Works- Finest Modulus of fine sand should be 1.2-1.5
and silt contents should not be more than 4%. 25% sand is
said to be good proportion.
2. Plastering Works- Finest Modulus of fine sand should not be
more than 1.5 and silt contents not be more than 4%. It is
usually mixed with cement in the ratio of 1:3 or 1:4.
3. Concrete Works- Finest modulus of coarse sand should be
2.5-3.5 and silt contents should not be more than 4%.

37. Mortars and Concrete Work
 Sand is used in mortar and concretes for the following
purposes:-
a) Strength- It helps in the adjustment of strength of mortar or
concrete by variation of its proportion with lime or cement. It also
increases the resistance of mortar against crushing.
b) Bulk- It act as an adulterant. Hence, the bulk volume of mortar is
increased with results in reduction of cost.
c) Setting- In the case of fat lime, CO₂ is absorbed through the voids
of sand and setting of lime occurs effectively.
d) Shrinkage- It prevents excessive shrinkage of mortar in the course
of drying. Hence, the cracking of during setting is avoided.
e) Surface Area- It subdivides the paste of the binding material into a
thin film and thus , more surface area is offered for its spreading
and adhering.

39. Properties of Good sand
• It should be clean and coarse.
• It should be free from organic or vegetative matter; usually 3-
4% clay is permitted.
• It should be chemically inert.
• It should contain sharp, angular, coarse and durable grains.
• It should not contain salts which attract moisture from the
atmosphere.
• It should be well graded, i.e. it should contain particles of
various sizes in suitable proportions.
• It should be strong and durable.
• It should be clean and free from coating of clay and silt.

40. TESTS
• Sieve Test- Sand is filtered through sieve of suitable pore size.
If the residue left is more than the filtered sand then sand is
of poor quality.
• Silt Test- Take some quantity of sand in water. Then, shake it
vigorously and allow it to settle down. If clay and silt is
present in sand, its distinct layer of formed at top of water.
The sand is acceptable if the quantity of clay and silt present
is not more than 5% than the total mixture.
• Impurity Test- To detect the presence of organic
matter/material in the sand, add Caustic Soda or Sodium
Hydroxide (NaOH) to it. if the colour changes to brown, then
the sand has organic impurities.

41. SIEVE TEST

43. SILT TEST

45. IMPURITY TEST

46. BULKING OF SAND
• The increase in the volume of sand due to the
presence of moisture is known as Bulking of Sand.
This is due to the fact that moisture forms a film of
water around the sand particles and this results in an
increase in the volume of sand.
• The finer the material more will be the increase in
volume for the given moisture content.
• Compared to its dry or completely saturated volume,
moist fine aggregate tents to increase in volume due
to capillary effect. The capillary action between sand
particles does not allow the particles to come closer
to each other. Thus this phenomenon causes bulking.

47. Continued….
• In completely dry or completely wet state there is no capillary
action and hence there is no bulking. Thus the dry sand and
the sand completely flooded with water have practically the
same volume. However in moist state correction must be
made for volume of sand for use in concrete.
• For a moisture content of 5-8%, the increase in volume may
be about 20-40% depending upon the gradation of sand.
When the moisture content is further increased, the sand
particles pack near each other and the amount of bulking is
decreased. Hence dry sand and the sand completely flooded
with water have practically the same volume.
• However bulking is not considered when the mix design is
based on weight and only to be considered when volumetric
proportioning of sand is done.

48. Issue of Bulking of Sand ?
• If proper measures are not accounted for bulking of sand
then it results in increased cost of concrete/ mortar.
• Also, it results in under sanded mixes (Less sand than
required) which are harsh and difficult in working and
placing.

49. Chart showing Bulking of Sand

50. Deleterious materials in Sand
• Sand shall not contain any harmful impurities such as iron,
pyrites, alkalis, salts, coals or other organic impurities, mica,
shale or similar laminated materials, soft fragments, sea
shale in such form or in such quantities as to affect adversely
the hardening, strength or durability of the mortar. The
maximum quantities of clay, fine silt, fine dust and organic
impurities in the sand/marble dust shall not exceed the
following limits:-
(a) Clay, fine silt and fine dust when determined in accordance
within not more than 5% by mass in IS:2386 (Part–II),
natural sand or crushed gravel sand and crushed stone sand.
(b) Organic impurities when determined in color of the liquid
shall be lighter in accordance with IS:2386 (Part-II) than that
specified in the code.

51. Coal Clay Iron Pyrites
Vegetative Matter Sea shell Mica
Oils

52. Transportation of Sand
• It is usually transport in trucks or trolleys from digging sites to
the construction sites as it is required in bulk amount.
• It is measured in Cubic Feet or Cubic Meter.
Breadth
Height
Length

54. Substitutes of Sand
 In place of sand, other materials such as crushed stone, burnt clay or
surkhi, cinder or ashes (Fly ash & bottom ash) from coal, coke dust etc.,
may be used to prepare Mortar or Concrete.
• The crushed stones are sharp and impart more strength to mortar. They
are generally used for big construction projects like- concrete dams,
bridges etc., where sand in huge quantities is not available near the place
of work. They should however be properly screened to remove the stone
dust.
• The surkhi is popular substitute for sand. It is obtained by finely grinding
burnt clay. It should be clean and free from any impurities. It plays the
same functions as those sand but in addition, it gives strength and
improves hydraulic property of the mortar.
• However it disintegrates under the action of air and humidity, the mortar
with surkhi should not be used for external plaster or pointing work.

55. Surkhi
Crushed Sand