Aggregates
FHWA Aggregates and Recycled Materials
Aggregates are a critical element in the construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of roadway base, asphalt and concrete pavements, concrete structures, and drainage. However, aggregate resources needed for the construction and maintenance of highways, local roads and streets, and as basic materials for concrete structures and drainage applications need to be given sufficient consideration early in the planning and design process. Natural aggregate availability depends on the regional geologic resource capacities and whether those resources can be mined and transported in a long-term, sustainable way to the major construction markets. Aggregate availability impacts the triple bottom line of sustainability. Aggregate selection should be considered during the pavement and mixture design phase and pavement life cycle performance must be considered. In addition, responsibly managing and utilizing resources through the reuse or recycling of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) may be considered.
Publications
- Tech Brief: Use of Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA) in Concrete Paving Mixtures,
FHWA-HIF-22-020 2022