Designing Self-Compacting Concrete Using Local Materials from the Arid Region of Adrar, Algeria

Abstract In the construction sector, the non-renewable world resource of sand is largely used to produce mortar and concrete. It has been estimated that over 10 billion tons of sand have been produced, with 1.2 billion tons used in concrete over the last decade, which leads to a progressive reduction of available construction materials and environmental impacts. Since desert sand resources are abundant in arid region of Adrar (Southern Algeria), it would be viable to use desert-sand as an alternative material for the production of self-compacting concrete. Therefore, self-compacting concrete is experiencing significant demand in that arid region since it offers socio-technical and economic solutions to stakeholders in the construction and public works industry. Furthermore, the present study aims to address the concerns of these stakeholders. The results obtained showed that the self-compacting concrete that was made with local materials, behave correctly, both in the fresh and hardened states. This concrete included a 1% super plasticizer dosage, a gravel-to-sand (G/S) ratio varying between 0.8 and 1.1, and additions of limestone fillers up to 50% relative to the mass of cement for self-compacting concrete made with dune sand, while this percentage could go up to 38% for self-compacting concrete made with corrected sand (63% crushed sand with 37% dune sand).