Minister of Construction warns against using sea sand to build roads and houses

TPO - In the context that the construction industry is facing many challenges in terms of materials and infrastructure investment costs, Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh emphasized that Vietnam must promote the exploitation of recycled materials and optimize the design process of airports and highways. However, extreme caution must be exercised in the use of sea sand for road and house construction.

Be careful with beach sand

At the Conference on implementing Resolution No. 57 of the Politburo, Resolution No. 71/NQ-CP of the Government and promoting science and technology activities, innovation and digital transformation in the construction and transport sectors on September 8, mentioning the research on solutions to develop alternative materials for construction sand, sand for filling construction works and highway foundations, Mr. Tran Hong Minh - Minister of Construction - warned about misunderstandings in the use of sea sand.

The Minister of Construction affirmed that scientific studies from 200 years ago have shown that sea sand is really not suitable for road construction and house construction. The reason is that due to the natural erosion process, sea sand grains are often round and smooth, lacking edges, so the ability to bond with cement and asphalt is very poor, causing concrete to crack easily and reduce durability.

Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh. Photo: Loc Lien.

More worryingly, sea sand contains high levels of chloride and sulfate, which can easily corrode steel and reduce the life of structures. In addition, due to its porous and weak properties, sea sand used as roadbeds and foundations can easily collapse when subjected to heavy loads.

“Without a strict and costly treatment process, sea sand cannot replace river sand or crushed sand in construction and infrastructure. At the same time, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between sea sand and the type of sand located at the intersection between the end of the river and the sea - the type of sand that can be used for some projects if technically processed,” said Minister Tran Hong Minh.

The Commander of the Transport and Construction Industry added that, regarding sea sand, scientists are currently researching the possibility of using sea sand to build curbs for constructions combined with concrete, but it is absolutely not recommended for heavy-duty vehicles to pass through.

Increase the use of recycled materials

In contrast to the caution about sea sand, the Minister of Construction specifically encourages the application and effective use of recycled materials.

The experimental construction section uses sea sand as the foundation material. Photo: VGP.

The Minister of Construction cited that Binh Duong - where he used to work - used recycled materials from 2009 - 2010 and currently many localities in the Mekong Delta are also promoting this.

"Localities must educate people about recycled materials, avoid wasting and dumping construction materials that can be reused. Because recycled materials are considered a key solution, helping to reduce investment costs," said Minister Tran Hong Minh.

Another important highlight is optimizing costs and shortening construction time of infrastructure projects. The Minister pointed out the shortcomings in the design and construction process of airports and highways, which leads to the fact that every time there is a delay, there is a daily debt of billions of dong in interest. Therefore, applying standard designs and shortening design time can bring about outstanding efficiency, avoiding the situation of "slipping ceiling" and wasting tens of billions of dong every day on projects.

Upgrading the road using hot recycling technology at Noi Bai airport. Photo: VGP.

To achieve the above goals, the Minister of Construction requested research institutes, universities and relevant agencies to focus on researching and developing practical solutions. In particular, artificial intelligence (AI) is encouraged to be applied in surveying, forecasting natural disasters and traffic infrastructure. Green energy conversion solutions are also an important research direction.

“It is necessary to apply science and technology and digital transformation to create specific products, such as sample designs for inland waterway works or architectural parts of seaports and airports, so that they can be deployed quickly and effectively,” Mr. Minh said, calling on agencies and units to join hands to build an Innovation Center to solve outstanding problems, towards an efficient, sustainable and modern construction industry.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/bo-truong-xay-dung-canh-bao-viec-dung-cat-bien-de-lam-duong-xay-nha-post1776337.tpo