Compacted Sand Concrete in Pavement Construction: An Economical and Environmental Solution

Compacted sand concrete is being researched for potential usage in road construction because of the overexploitation of quarry gravels and the risk of a shortage in gravel resources in many countries throughout the world. This paper describes the steps followed to validate the use of such material from the proportioning to the performed mechanical tests (compressive strength, indirect tensile strength, flexural strength, and Young's modulus). This study also describes the development of an economic test setup to test the fatigue properties of compacted sand concrete. The developed machine produced repeatable results and was able to generate the fatigue curves for a conventional concrete mixture and three different compacted sand concrete mixtures. Two of the tested sand concrete mixtures were made using crushed sand from two different quarries, whereas the third one was made using a mixture of crushed sand and desert sand. The encouraging fatigue results, as well as the acceptable initial construction costs, validate the use of compacted sand concrete in pavements. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]