Partial Replacement of Sand with Sawdust in Concrete Production

The construction industry relies heavily on conventional materials such as cement, granite and sand for the production of concrete. The high and increasing cost of these materials has greatly hindered the development of shelter and other infrastructural facilities in developing countries. There arises the need for engineering consideration of the use of cheaper and locally available materials to meet desired need, enhance self efficiency, and lead to an overall reduction in construction cost for sustainable development. Attempts have equally been made by various researchers to reduce the cost of concrete constituents and hence total construction cost by investigating and ascertaining the usefulness of materials which could be classified as agricultural or industrial waste. Some of these wastes include sawdust, pulverized fuel ash palm kernel shells, slag, fly ash etc which are produced from milling stations, thermal power station, waste treatment plants etc. (The utility of fly ash as partial replacement in concrete mixes is on the rise). In this study, an attempt has been made to assess the suitability of sawdust in concrete production.