Possibility of producing manufactured sand from quartzite rocks at Rajawaka off Balangoda

Abstract

Demand for construction sand rapidly increases due to speedy development projects going on all over the country. Until the recent past the sand requirement was fulfilled mainly by river sand. However due to scarcity of river sand and restriction of river sand mining due to negative environment effects, increased attention was received to find suitable alternatives. Inaddition to sea sand mining possibility of producing manufacture sand from suitable rocks, recycled aggregates and crush waste glass were carried out by many research groups.This study was carried out to find the suitability of large scale quartzite rocks occur at Rajawaka off Balangoda area for producing manufactured sand in the industrial scale. Sieve analysis, cube tests and slump tests carried out showed that manufactured sand produced from quartzite rocks of the area reach required strength for concrete.