Demonstration of Alternative Aggregates in Highway Pavement Construction in the United Kingdom

Abstract

In the United Kingdom at present, road maintenance and construction accounts for approximately one-third of all primary aggregate used. The U.K. government has moved toward sustainable development and the reduction of the environmental impact of road schemes. In 1995, the Highway Agency (HA) commissioned the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to trial the use of alternative aggregates as bitumen bound road base layers. The objective of the project was to advance precious HA commissioned laboratory research into full scale trials, This paper describes preliminary laboratory tests as well as the construction and the long term monitoring of full scale road trials, Specification clauses produced by TRL, and published by the HA are discussed, as well as implications for future U.K. design.