Dredged marine sand as construction material

Abstract

This work deals with the study of dredged marine sand (DMS) from the Port of Sant Carles de la Ràpita (Tarragona, Spain) as construction material. The analysis of its influence on paste, mortar and concrete production is described. Two experimental phases were carried out after the chemical and physical characteristics of DMS were determined. Firstly, pastes and mortars were made using CEM II/A-M 42.5R cement, different percentages of DMS in replacement of raw sand and plasticizer additive in order to obtain the fresh and hardened properties of the mixes studied. After that, DMS was used for the production of concretes as fine aggregates. A pilot study was carried out with harbor concrete pavements produced at industrial scale. The results were compared to those of the control mixes and proved the satisfactory behavior of DMS as construction material when incorporated into concrete as granular corrector.