Quality assessment of sandcrete blocks produced with river sand in Ogun State, Nigeria

In Nigeria construction industry sandcrete block is an important building material, it is used in the construction of the building and other useful physical infrastructure. Many of the sandcrete blocks are produced at different location and environment using different aggregate materials without resort to the minimum quality standard expected of the sandcrete block. It is on this bases that the study assessed the quality of sandcrete block produced with river sand in order to determine their compliance level to the standard expected of a sandcrete block. Eighteen (18) numbers of sandcrete blocks of size 225mmx225mmx450mm were gotten from three different production locations in Ifo, Ogun state Nigeria. Sieve analyses, bulk density, silt content, and the compressive test was carried out to determine the property quality of aggregate material (river sand) used for the production of the blocks and its strength. The result shows that the aggregate material used was of good quality suitable for the production of the sandcrete block. The result also shows that the average compressive strength of 1.16N/mm2 for sandcrete blocks from different production sites does not meet up with the minimum requirement for sandcrete block compressive strength as stipulated by NIS 2007 and ISO 848492-1994. The study revealed that the quality of the block produced is not affected by the quality of aggregate used but by poor quality control of aggregate and other materials used in the production of the blocks. It further revealed that the block quality is also affected by shoddy/improper curing of blocks produced. The study, therefore, concluded that regulatory and professional bodies should organize seminars for the local producers of sandcrete blocks on the best practice of producing quality blocks in meeting the required quality standard for construction work to avoid structural cracks and collapsing of building.