Use of Manufactured Sand in Concrete Pavement

Recent research by the Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) focused on the selection of manufactured sands for general concrete applications and for concrete road pavements. Selected manufactured sands can be used as part of the fine aggregates to deliver workable concrete for general applications and to provide good skid and abrasion resistance to concrete pavement. In concrete pavement, it was found that the use of free silica limit in the selection of natural sand to provide good skid resistance to concrete pavement does not necessarily apply to manufactured sands. CCAA research has found a sand abrasion resistant test, based on the Micro Deval test method, to be effective in selecting both natural and manufactured sands to provide good skid and skid after wear for concrete pavement. Similar research finding has recently been reported by the International Centre for Aggregate Research (ICAR) at the University of Texas at Austin. In the CCAA research, it was also found that the abrasion resistance of concrete pavement is dependent on 28-day concrete compressive strength and is independent of the sand used. Overall, the greater use of manufactured sands in all concrete depends on their mix design and workability characteristics which affect the efficiency of the concrete mixes.