What if we use silica sand instead of river sand?

Where I am from, we tend to speak of beach / dune sand vs river sand. The river sand is usually washed to remove silt. We usually use a blend of both in concrete. That is because the beach sand is much finer than the river sand. read more

Silica or SiO2 is the predominant mineral compound of silica sand. That sand can be anywhere, not just in rivers. But then, of course, that means river sand can be silica sand. read more

In the Netherlands, sandblasting with silica sand has been forbidden already since 1957 and instead of "sandblasting" we now speak about grit or shot blasting, abrasive blasting or blast cleaning. High quality substitutes are widely available: Aluminium Silicate (coal slag grit), Glass Granulates, Olivine and Garnet. read more