I've seen the Middle East. There's a lot of sand there.
So I looked it up and it's because they use sand in construction (places like Dubai do A LOT of construction). And even though those cities are literally surrounded by desert
"Wind-formed desert sand is too smooth for construction."
Also countries like Bahrain use it to expand the land. My dad used to work as a real estate agent about 2 decades ago. He was selling houses in Bahrain that didn't exist. Hell, the land under the houses didn't exist. He was basically selling a dream.
This is why investing in property in those cities is a massive risk. Your seafront property could end up being town centre in a few years, similarly they just build a whole new district in the desert and your up and coming area is now old news.
A lot of people get caught out in Dubai for the same reasons, government wants to make some money? Just sell the land to a developer (who happens to be owned by you or a relative), that company then sells houses to smucks.
This is because it allows muslims to do non muslim stuff. Something along the lines of this land isn’t from god so the rules don’t apply here. It was explained to me once, badly, by a brit who was a resident of dubai. They got some crescent moon shaped island they made where they go do non muslim stuff like drink booze and gamble.
You need enough fracture in your sand particles to “lock up” and provide adequate compaction to serve as base material. -your local sand and gravel salesman
The world is actually running out of useable sand, we’re going through it too fast. Plus there’s a black market and criminals intercept and sell on sand.
Desert sand is smooth due to constant erosion from the wind. The desert is so undisturbed that the sand particles grind against each other. It’s why desert sand sinks easily under you. It can’t be used easily in construction and it’s useless for concrete.
You need to have the right kind of sand for construction just like you need the right knid for beaches. You have to import it or dredge it up from the bottom of the ocean. Transporting it is cheaper.
River sand is best for construction, and getting it destroys the river biome. Also due to construction and trapped sand in concrete, we are running out of sand.
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u/AndrewDSo 28d ago
I've seen the Middle East. There's a lot of sand there.
So I looked it up and it's because they use sand in construction (places like Dubai do A LOT of construction). And even though those cities are literally surrounded by desert
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20160502-even-desert-city-dubai-imports-its-sand-this-is-why