Compacted dune sand concrete for pavement applications

Deficits in quarry gravels in some regions initiated the present study to examine the feasibility of using dune sand, obtained from the Sahara region, for road construction. Dune sand was used to produce compacted sand concrete, which serves as a base layer in pavement structures. An investigation of the potential sands was carried out and their physical characteristics were then evaluated. A proportioning study was developed to find the best mixture of compacted dune sand concrete with a minimum 28 day compressive strength of 15 MPa. The paper summarises the steps followed to validate the use of this new material and describes the results of all performed mechanical tests. Furthermore, the paper provides the results of fatigue tests for the retained mixture, reports its fatigue parameters, presents the results of the free shrinkage test, and finally proposes the spacing of sawn joints for compacted dune sand concrete slabs to avoid shrinkage cracking.