Building Sand, by the Truckload

What it is

Kitovu sells building sand in Zanzibar by the full truck: a big tipper truck, loaded loose, for TZS 850,000. Sand is the fine aggregate of building work. With cement and water it makes mortar for laying blocks and plaster for walls, and together with coarse stone it makes concrete. It also goes under floor slabs and paving as a levelling layer.

Price per cubic metre

Kitovu prices sand by the truck, not by the cubic metre. For comparison with sellers who quote per m³, the card shows a cubic metre price of about TZS 47,200. It is our calculation: TZS 850,000 divided by 18 m³, a typical load for a big three-axle (6 × 4) tipper. The volume of Kitovu’s truck is not confirmed yet, so the figure is an estimate; the reply on WhatsApp gives the load in m³ for your order. If the truck turns out to hold 15 m³, the same price works out at about TZS 56,700 per m³ (our calculation).

The type of sand in stock — pit, river or sea sand — and whether it is washed are not in Kitovu’s records yet. Both matter for concrete with steel bars in it: a study of offshore sand for reinforced concrete set 0.075% chloride by weight of sand as the safe limit. Ask which sand is in the truck before you order it for structural work. The sand page sets out the types and what to check in each.

How it is used

A full truck is a lot of sand for a small job and the right amount for a house. Before ordering, it helps to work out the volume the job needs (our calculations; the mix itself comes from your drawing or engineer):

How it is used

Job	Size	Volume of the layer or slab
Levelling layer under a floor slab	10 × 10 m, 50 mm thick	5 m³
Floor screed	60 m², 50 mm thick	3 m³
Ground slab, concrete	10 × 10 m, 150 mm thick	15 m³ of concrete

Sand in a layer is measured straight from the drawing. In concrete and mortar, sand is one part of the mix, and the share of sand per m³ depends on the mix the engineer sets, so take that figure from the drawing.

Tipping and storing

The truck tips the load where it can reach. Clear a firm, flat spot close to where the mixing will happen, away from drains, so rain does not wash the heap into them. Covering the heap with a sheet keeps rubbish and leaves out of the mortar.

Sand works with the other dry materials that Kitovu sells in Zanzibar: Cement for Concrete and Mortar by the bag and Crushed Stone Aggregate (Kokoto), by the Truckload for concrete.