Engineering Properties and Cost Comparison among Sylhet Sand, Khustia Sand and Local Sand in the Context of Foundation Engineering

Abstract

Sand pile technology has been used widely in Bangladesh for various kind of soft soil improvement. But the effectiveness of sand pile varies with the change of grain size of sand use for piling. In these research, relations with different factors such as effective particle size (D₁₀), mean particle size (D₅₀)are discussed. For the purpose of experimental analysis, samples are prepared from mixing different proportions of available sands and then tested in the laboratory. Particle size distribution curve was used for finding out mean particle size (D₅₀) & effective particle size (D₁₀).Permeability value of different composition of sands varies from 1x10^-3 to 10x10^-3(cm/s). Frictional angle value changed very little with particle size variation. Market analysis was performed in the local area (Khulna) for cost comparison. 60% Sylhet sand with 40% Kushtia sand was found the most economical sand composition and it will save near about 8.89% of the total purchase cost of sand for sand piling. But it showedthe permeability value4.70 (cm/s) and frictional angle 40.91 degree, which are comparatively lower than 100 % Sylhet sand. In case of using decision, regional geotechnical expert’s decisions will be considered strongly.