Construction Aggregate

Introduction
Construction aggregate is a broad category of coarse
particulate material used in construction, including crushed
stone, sand, gravel, slag, recycled concrete and
geosynthetic aggregates.
Aggregates are the most mined materials in the world.
Construction aggregates are the least expensive of all
mined products. Because of their low price, transportation
costs from the mine to the point of use often are the major
part of their cost to the consumer.
Introduction
Sand and gravel aggregate is less expensive than crushed
stone aggregate, but crushed stone has the advantage of
consistency in mineral makeup, hardness, angularity, and
density.
Recycled aggregate is usually highly variable in quality and
properties.
Modern blasting methods enabled the development
of quarries, which are now used wherever competent
bedrock deposits of aggregate quality exist like limestone,
granite, and marble
Uses
Construction aggregates are used in concrete and asphalt,
which make up most of our streets and highways, bridges,
houses and other buildings, roofing, and other structural
components.
Aggregates range in size from large boulders (rip rap) used
as fill in large construction projects to finely-ground flour-
sized particles used in paint, glass, plastic, medicine,
agricultural feed and soil conditioners, and many other
industrial and household products.
Construction aggregates are also used in water purification,
emissions control, soil erosion control, and other
environmental improvement products.
Crushed stone
By blasting, crushing and screening, quarries produce a
range of products including (1)coarse-screened rock for rail
ballast, (2)screenings for concrete, road sealing and hotmix
aggregates, and (3)crushed rock and rubble for road
pavements. Those that are too large for the crushers to
handle are often stockpiled for use in (4)breakwater
construction or beach protection works
The rock type quarried can be any material that exhibits
sufficient strength, resistance to wear, high production
potential, and low amount of waste. Limestone is the
preferred rock for highway construction

Natural gravel
Natural gravel sources occur in a variety of different geologic
environments. They consist of unconsolidated gravel, or
loosely to partially cemented gravel that can be dug out of a
pit without blasting or cutting.
Alluvial, terrace, glacial gravel deposits
Natural sand
Natural sand is used for a variety of purposes for which there
is a range of specifications, principally size gradings and silt
and clay content. The most important use of natural sand is
in concrete, which accounts for over half of all sand
produced. Other significant uses include bricklaying,
plastering, filling on building sites, packing of water or gas
pipeline trenches, and for gardening.



Other Construction
Aggregate
Slag
Slag is the glass-like by-product left over after a desired
metal has been separated (smelted) from its raw ore.
If the granulated blast furnace slag accesses free lime during
hydration, it develops strong hydraulic cementitious
properties and can partly substitute for portland cement in
concrete
Recyclable aggregate
Aggregates themselves can be recycled as aggregates.
Unlike deposits of sand and gravel or stone suitable for
crushing into aggregate, which can be anywhere and may
require overburden removal and/or blasting, "deposits" of
recyclable aggregate tend to be concentrated near urban
areas
Concrete, asphalt, glass
Geosynthetic aggregates
Many geosynthetic aggregates are also made from recycled
materials. Being polymer based, recyclable plastics can be
reused in the production of these new age of aggregates.
EZflow by Infiltrator is an
environmentally friendly replacement to
traditional stone and pipe drainfields
using an engineered geosynthetic
aggregate modular design