The Use of Local Materials as Traditional Building Materials to Protect the Sahara’s Climatic Heritage

The types of local materials used in construction require further scientific characterization in order to determine their fundamental properties and applications, whether in construction or other industrial fields. It was therefore necessary to identify natural sand to determine the limits within which it can be used. This study is based on the physical and chemical characteristics of numerous local natural materials found in the arid regions of Algeria. According to the compliance tests carried out on local materials, all the natural materials studied were found to be very clean and to contain fine particles, as confirmed by the fineness coefficient. The absorption rate of all materials is low. Chemical analysis showed that the local material in our region is a siliceous material. The minimum silica content is 85%, while the maximum limestone concentration is 12%. The sulfate concentration does not exceed 1.15 micromoles per litre, which confirms the suitability of the sand for inert production. Therefore, the use of this sand as a raw material in industry is subject to strict control. Furthermore, as the particle size distribution is not the same according to fractal distribution assessments, this encourages us to study these sands more closely and use them as granular construction materials.