Assessment of Sustainable Sand Provision for Construction Projects in Nigeria

Abstract

Construction base materials such as timber and sand have been experiencing depletion in recent times. Due to this factor sand, particularly its mining and extraction has impacted negatively on the environment through the destruction of beaches and endangering the ecosystem they protect and escalated the cost of construction. This study aimed to examine sustainable sand provision for construction projects in Nigeria. The study adopted the survey approach with respondents comprising construction practitioners. One hundred and fifty structured questionnaires were distributed out of which 107 responded representing 71%. Descriptive statistics was used for analysis. Typical findings reveal that the primary source of sand currently used for construction in Nigeria is river. Most prevailing negative consequences experienced include soil erosion, depletion of sand and increasing the cost of construction. The most favourable preventive measures include enacting a government policy regulating the mining of sand and issuing legislation requiring the use of alternatives to sand among others. The most presently utilized alternative resource to sand is quarry dust and construction and demolition waste. The reasons for lack of adoption of other alternatives include nonavailability and lack of awareness. In the future, respondents indicated that they are likely to adopt some of the alternatives.

The competitive advantage of sustainable construction site practices among contractors in Malaysia

“…Contractors would thus get a higher investment return after implementing sustainable practices. Moreover, as construction activities have resulted in severe environmental degradation due to the excessive consumption of natural resources, potential contractors with the knowledge of how to successfully manage resources in an optimal way would easily be recognized by people, thus bringing them new market opportunities [22]. Other than that, sustainable practice such as minimizing the on-site transportation by properly managing and utilizing the construction and demolition (C & D) waste to a certain extent before disposing it to the landfill is one of the keys to maximizing contractors' profits and construction revenue.…”

Perceived Proficiencies Possessed by Brickwork/ Block Laying Prospective Graduates in Nigerian Technical Colleges

“…Olojuolawe further stated that the over-dependence on academic qualification has failed to guarantee quality jobs and that the existence of a skill gap between the school and the industry needed to be bridged. Garba (2019) noted that some Technical College Teachers assess students' practical project performance by taking cursory look at the finished work/product and assigning grades they like without inspecting the stages of production of the practical project. This might be due to lack of valid instruments for such assessment or non-challant attitude of the teachers.…”

A Holistic Assessment of Construction and Demolition Waste Management in the Nigerian Construction Projects

“…However, in the absence of procedure in providing guidelines on how to produce a suitable waste management plan, the development of a waste management-mapping model that can be integrated before the commencement of construction activities and the provision of specification for the various handling measures for managing waste onsite is the cause of major waste production in the country [22][23][24]. According to Poon et al [25], every regulation is required in the construction sectors to be followed and applied towards sustainable waste management, and there is a need to develop a holistic waste management system that is cost-effective, sustainable, and acceptable, with an emphasis on environmental conservation and good technological selection without the impact of the government regulations [26][27][28].…”