The Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa (Aspasa) has recently begun promoting the development of specific standards as a means of improving the overall quality of supply of materials.

“With correct specifications, suppliers can more easily grade existing materials, as well as identify and mine for minerals that may be required instead,” says Aspasa director Nico Pienaar.

Aggregates and sands are used across all countries in Southern Africa and should be regulated through standards produced to ensure conformance with the minimum requirements of individual industries, says Pienaar.

He adds that the acceptability of aggregates should, therefore, be tested and documented to provide suppliers anywhere within the region with a scientific platform to supply the correct grade and quality for different applications.

“Standards enable our members to work within a defined framework and give cus-tomers exactly what they need. We see it as a positive step to promote the use of aggregates and provide a framework for our members to meet growing demand,” he says.

Apart from physical appearances, aggre-gates also may have different compositions. Technically competent aggregate suppliers are able to provide all kinds of aggregates, but they may not know the intricacies that can affect the performance of their products under all conditions.

Sand and aggregates are used for such a wide variety of purposes that it is impossible to know all the attributes for every appli- cation, he notes, highlighting that they are used for anything from concrete mixes, to building road and railway routes, as well as anchoring and drainage mediums for structures.

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Industrial uses are many and varied and include the composition of various tools and abrasives, as well as providing media for operations like cleaning and polishing of surfaces,” explains Pienaar.

Further, the properties required for each operation can be vastly different and, there-fore, require standards to be compiled and accepted by each industry. “In addition, the standards ensure that all aspects of the product supplied are ethical and uniform, including safety, efficiency and sustainability of processes throughout the supply chain. Environmental issues play a big role when producing aggregate and sand and even here there are standards and legal issues to be considered,” he adds.

“As countries within the Southern African region continue to develop, so too does the call for aggregates. In terms of infrastructural development alone, the need for specifications is growing by the day, as construction tech-niques are repeated throughout the region by multinational companies. By adopting international standards all countries can make use of the same set of rules when devel-oping infrastructure. South Africa, especially, needs to bed down on standards to ensure that the infrastructure built is sustainable and can be enjoyed by generations to come.

“The adoption of a single set of codes will also contribute to more efficient cost esti- mates and will simplify the drawing up of specifications. Recent moves by the African Union Commission to adopt international standards are promising and are being eagerly watched by Aspasa. The adoption of international standards for sand and aggregates will contribute to a more sustain- able industry and, as a result, we wholeheart-edly support these efforts,” concludes Pienaar.