MANUFACTURED SAND (M-SAND) POLICY

 

For: Preliminary & Mains

Topics covered:

• What is M-Sand?
• What are its uses and advantages?

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News Flash

Tamil Nadu government will put in place manufactured sand (M-sand) policy in the next three months.

The policy aims to promote the use of M-sand as an alternative building material and eliminate the pervasion of sub-standard products in the market through the regulation of trade.

 

Highlights

• Once the M-sand policy is implemented, it will be mandatory for manufacturers to get approval for the quality of the material.
• With limited availability of river and imported sand, the use of M-sand in construction activity had risen by 60-65%.

 

Manufactured sand (M-sand)

• Manufactured sand (M-Sand) is a substitute for river sand for concrete construction. It is produced from hard granite stone by crushing.
• The crushed sand is of cubical shape with grounded edges, washed and graded to as a construction material.

 

Need of M-sand

• Due to the fast-growing construction industry, the demand for sand has increased tremendously, causing deficiency of suitable river sand in most part of the word.
• Due to the depletion of good quality river sand for the use of construction, the use of manufactured sand has been increased.
• Another reason for the use of M-Sand is its availability and low transportation cost.

 

Advantages of M-sand

• It does not contain an organic and soluble compound that affects the setting time and properties of cement, thus the required strength of concrete can be maintained.
• It is well graded in the required proportion.
• M-sand does not have the presence of impurities such as clay, dust and silt coatings, increase water requirement as in the case of river sand which impair the bond between cement paste and aggregate.
• It is obtained from specific hard rock (granite) using the state-of-the-art International technology, thus the required property of sand is obtained.

 

Properties of M-sand

• Higher Strength of concrete
• Durability of concrete
• Workability of concrete
• Fewer Construction Defects
• Eco-Friendly

 

Source: The Hindu

 

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