3. River Sand Mining and Mining Methods

Large-scale sand extraction from river environment for building constructions is a global phenomenon. Indiscriminate sand mining imposes a series of physical, ecological, and socio-environmental impacts on the river basins. Furthermore, the extraction of this granular material is unavoidable as the sustainability of construction industry depends heavily on it. In rivers, construction grade sand occurs in different sources—active channels, floodplains, and river terraces. Different mining methods (mechanical or manual) are adopted for the extraction of sand from these sources under dry (above water table) and/or wet (below water table) conditions. This chapter describes briefly the different sources, methods and hydrogeological bearings of sand and gravel extraction processes in river ecosystems.