A comparative study of the quality of sandcrete cement blocks and quarry dust cement blocks

Abstract

With the increase of construction activities in Ghana, there is an increasing demand in building materials leading to the shortage of the conventional materials. The informal sector is gradually seeing the introduction of quarry dust as a substitute of sand in block production. This paper focuses on a comparative analysis of the quality of sandcrete blocks and quarry dust cement blocks. Block samples were gathered from various suppliers around the Prampram and Dawhenya areas and through various laboratory tests were tested for their dimension tolerance, water absorption and compressive strengths. Aggregate samples were also taken from suppliers for sieve analyses. The study revealed that the quarry dust cement blocks contained relatively higher percentages of coarse grade particles compared to the sandcrete blocks. The total average water absorption of sandcrete blocks was found to be 3.90% while quarry dust showed an improved value of 3.28%. Sandcrete blocks were averagely found to be of a higher compressive strength of 4.31N/mm2, with quarry dust at 3.0N/mm2. The study suggested the likelihood of a lesser use of cement in the production of quarry dust cement blocks due to the similarities in colour between the quarry dust and cement, hence, negatively affecting its compressive strength.