Appendix 4: TYPE OF SAND AND SPECIFICATION

Introduction A4.1 The suitability of sand for commercial uses is determined by a wide range of considerations, as sands for different uses require different characteristics. For example, sand used for concreting is generally of a coarser nature than that for building or construction purposes, and the proportion of fine material important in a number of applications. Grain shape can also be a factor of importance. A4.2 The presence of impurities can be critical in determining the suitability of sands for working. In the case of sand for industrial uses (silica sands), the presence of even low levels of impurities can make them unsuitable. With building sand it is less critical but the presence of significant proportions of clay or silt in the deposit can be commercially important, as they may mean that expensive processing (screening and washing), is needed to make a saleable product. A4.3 The requirements for building and construction sand, including use in manufacture of asphalt and dense bituminous macadams, are set out in various technical publications notably in the form of standards produced by the British Standards Institution. In the case of road surfacing, the requirements are generally set out in terms of the mixes appropriate for particular uses. A4.4 The main standards of relevance to sand working in Surrey are set out in the following publications, available from the British Standards Institute:BS 1198, 1199 and 1200: 1976. Building Sands from Natural Sources. These cover sands for internal plastering with gypsum plasters (1198); sands for external renderings, internal plastering with lime and Portland Cement, and floor screeds (1199); and mortar sands (1200). BS882: 1983. Aggregates from Natural Sources for Concrete. BS594 (Part 1): 1985. Hot Rolled Asphalts for Roads and Other Paved Areas. A4.5 The standards are expressed in terms of the proportion of the sand capable of passing through sieves of various sizes. This method of specification means that there can still be considerable variation in materials suitable for a particular use and operators can often change what would otherwise be unsuitable sand, by processing to remove unwanted material (washing to remove silt or screening to remove oversize material or to exclude fines). However sand is a relatively low cost commodity and extensive processing of building and construction sand is not usual in Surrey, where deposits generally are sold with limited or sometimes with no treatment. The Folkestone Beds Deposit A4.6 Deposits in the Folkestone Beds are generally suitable for a wider variety of uses than other sands in the County. The most important consideration for commercial purposes is the grain size of the sand. In general Folkstone Sand deposits lack coarser grains,
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particles greater than 1.18mm being relatively rare. Nevertheless the upper deposits of the Folkestone Beds, as well as limited parts of the other sand strata found in Surrey, are generally suitable for some kind of building work. For most mortar and plastering work a coarse or medium grained sand is required. These uses are covered by British Standards 198, 1199 and 1200, which specify the acceptable proportions of sand of a given sample which may fall within the different size classes. Since the majority of sand extracted in Surrey from the Folkestone Beds is used for mortar, the following is the most relevant of the British Standards. Table A4.1 Sands for Mortar for Plain and Reinforced Brickwork, Blockwalling and Masonry (BS 1200) Percentage by mass Percentage by mass passing B S sieves Type S Type G 100 98-100 90-100 70-100 40-100 5-70 0-15 0-5 100 98-100 90-100 70-100 40-100 20-90 0-20 0-8

B S Sieve mm 6.30 5.00 2.36 1.18 um 600 300 150 75

A4.7 It can be seen from the above table that the sand must have a grain size of not more than 6.3mm, and that not more than 15% of the material should be capable of passing through a sieve of 150um diameter, with less than 40% through 600um. A4.8 Figures A4.1 and A4.2 illustrate the extent to which the Folkestone Beds in Surrey comply with the new British Standard 1200. Data on the grain size of unprocessed sand from boreholes, trail pits and working faces in the Folkstone Beds has been progressively collected by the Authority and a comprehensive information bank has been developed. From these internal records the upper and lower limits of sand gradings which prevail have been plotted (the broken lines) and the relevant British Standards have been superimposed (the solid lines). These diagrams confirm that the majority of sand from the Upper Folkstone Beds does meet the British Standard and that only the very extreme cases is the sand far from specification. In practice even this sand can be blended to make an acceptable product. Not all sands used by the building industry in Surrey are necessarily within the British Standard and often great emphasis is placed upon the colour of the sand (i.e. the amount of iron contamination), and the need for a high percentage of fine particles to give a fattiness and workability to the mortar. Thames Valley Sands and Gravel and other Alluvial Deposits A4.9 These deposits are of glacial origin and are usually of a coarser nature than the Folkestone Sands. The Thames Valley flint gravels, generally derived from erosion of the chalk to the north and west, are highly suitable for use as concreting aggregate. In

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a typical example over half of the mineral will consist of gravel (minerals over 5mm) with perhaps 40% coarse sand and 5% silt. This composition is well suited to the manufacture of concrete as the specifications for all-in aggregate set out below illustrate. Table A4.2: Specification of All-in Aggregate (BS 882) Percentage by mass passing B S sieves 40mm nominal 20mm nominal 100 95-100 45-80 25-30 8-30 0-6 100 95-100 35-55 10-35 0-6

B S Sieve mm 75 37.5 20 5 um 600 150

A4.10 Other alluvial deposits notably those of the Wey Valley tend to reflect the geological composition of the areas from which they are derived, especially exposed Folkestone and Wealden deposits, and contain large amounts of fine and silty material. They may be rendered unsuitable for use in concreting because of the presence of ironstone and sandstones in the coarser particles.

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