Seems like the supply of sand worldwide is becoming an issue. Building roads and buildings needs a huge amount of sand in their construction.. I was of the opinion that this surely was not true! What about the desert sands? Seems like the sands from the desert is of a different molecular structure than the sand found in coastal areas and rivers. Where does Melbourne,Sydney and Brisbane get all the sand they need to keep the housing bubble going? Anyone know? Wonder which Companies will try to manufacture sand? Singapore is raiding sands from other SE Asian countries...Where is the sand going to come from? Regards Errol 43
Different grades of sand, just like the different types of aggregate have impact upon the Mpa (strength) of the concrete. Road Mpa(minimum 40) is a lot higher than housing slab Mpa (20-25) and therefore use different sands. As such in respect of sand housing will not compete against roads for sand demand/supply Australia will not have to import sand to meet any production in either category. Edit to add...almost thinking I should have put this response under useless trivial facts thread.
Is this sand for concrete? Might be something to watch for investment ideas if there is a shortage and if projections of increased maintenance and rebuilding of concrete structures due to old rebar rusting in cement are correct.
Better video here http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-...tic-look-inside-newly-built-chinese-apartment
Bloody I knew articles like this would eventually come around. Why cant the bloody Chinese build anything decent that does'nt break or fall apart after a couple of years service. All those ghost cities are going to start falling over soon Which I reckon is great because the chinese need to learn how to make things properly and not always the cheapest way possible.
every city, every town, every habitat uses concrete to build house and more importantly, roads to connect them. The world is covered with desert sand, we have enough..... surely !!! Trouble is, the desert sand is smooth with rounded edges after years of wind blowing friction has taken away all the angular sections that create stability. River sand and sea sand is more recently created eroded rock. It has beautiful sharp edges, interlocking angles that when driven together, lock into place and create stability. This is the sand that is used in the creation of concrete and we pour millions of tonnes of concrete each and every day. That sand was dug up from the beaches, then it was dredged from the harbour and estuaries and now it is simply dredged up from the ocean bed. Take a look at Vegas and Dubai to see some of the world's biggest superstructures .... mostly made up from freshly dredged and washed sea sand. Sand that is taken from the ocean, washed and locked up in concrete for a very long time.
A bit more useless trivia... Melbourne is rapidly running out of sand. Most large reserves of windblown and river sand to the west and east are either exhausted, or now inconveniently have housing developments sitting over them (e.g. Cranbourne) due to wonderfully inept forward planning. Small operators are benefiting as quarrying smaller deposits, and the fringes of previously quarried deposits, become more financially viable. As with most bulky commodities, the major cost is transport rather than the material itself, so there's still plenty of it out there - just not in the right places. Oh, and it's unlikely that coastal sand will be never be used in construction - so your arse will not increase in value no matter how many times you take it to the beach (at least not for the reason suggested). This is because trace amounts of salt can ruin a batch of concrete.
I've heard that rice husk and ground bone are an alternative, although calculations show (apparently, not sure if it has been verified in practice) that you'd new a few hundred human skeletons for the needs of a typical home that relied on concrete.
I've heard that rice husk and ground bone are an alternative, although calculations show (apparently, not sure if it has been verified in practice) that you'd require a few hundred human skeletons for the needs of a typical home that relied on concrete.
Burnt bone might work but you're right, we're back to volume again. Cement/lime supply was a huge issue in the early development of Melbourne. The first kilns burnt shell from aboriginal middens (bit grim, but most likely an occasional skeleton too)
in the 2000's there was apparently a building sand shortage in NSW (i don't know what happened since), and there were a few companies applying for licences to dredge sand from the sea bed off NSW. Luckily (for the sea life) they were denied.
