Construction Aggregates

1. 2. 3. 4.

Uses & Economics in UK Types & Sources Processing & Testing Environmental Impact

What are aggregates?

granular material used in construction and may be natural, manufactured or recycled Aggregates are a low cost product used in very large quantities 1. Primary are extracted from mineral deposit and are used for first time 2. Secondary & recycled had a previous use Demand for aggregates from construction industry: Maintenance of transport infrastructure Construction of Affordable housing Rail system growth (HS2 & Crossrail projects) Flood & coastal defences

1.

Uses of Aggregates

1.

add additional strength and bulk to composite material, e.g. concrete as a drainage & filter material as possess high hydraulic conductivities, e.g. coarse gravels in french drains & landfill sites base material under foundations, roads & railways (madeground) to make a surface suitable for task, e.g. road stone in asphalt on roads for building materials and finishing products, e.g. bricks, masonry, plaster

UK Aggregates
UK demand for stone is about 200 million tonnes/year 5.5 tonnes per person in UK 50% goes on road & 50% on concrete Small amount of dimension stone More than half the aggregates come from crushed rock (60 %); the rest is sand and gravel (40 %) Rock strength is the prime requirement, usually UCS > 100 MPa Main size required is 5 50 mm

1.

Economics of UK Aggregates

1.

Aggregate consumption linked with demand from construction industry Consumption of primary aggregates decreasing since 1989 because of:

Decline of manufacturing economy, road construction & house building Construction methods Aggregates used economically Introduction of landfill tax & Rise of recycled aggregates Less demand for primary

Primary Aggregates
Treatment & uses of primary aggregates
Cut or crushed Fired Mixed Uses

2.

Extracted directly from mineral by quarrying or dredging to become aggregate

Rock Types

Primary Aggregates in the Home

2.

Building materials and their mineral ingredients

UK Aggregate Quarries
Limestone Quarries

2.
Sandstone Quarries

Igneous & Metamorphic Quarries

BGS mineral planning factsheet

Dimension Stone: Building Stone

2.

Dimension stone is quarried rock used in large blocks; Some is cut and used as a building stone or cladding stone

Bath Abbey constructed of Oolitic Jurassic Limestone

Edinburgh Castle constructed of Carboniferous Sandstone

Dimension Stone: Armourstone

2.

Rough blocks used as rock armour in coastal defences to protect against coastal erosion

Soton.ac.uk

Crushed Stone Aggregates

Crushed stone aggregates can be either single size or variable depending on application
Concrete & gabion fill require single size aggregates

2.

Road Aggregates
Road surfaces built up of a series of layers & topped with three layers of asphalt. Each asphalt layer uses different aggregate sizes (fining upwards) Asphalt is a mix of bitumen & crushed rock

2.

Outside the Chancellors Office on campus

Igneous & some metamorphic rocks are good road stone because; High rock strength and resistance to impact, abrasion, polishing, skidding and frost action; Laboratory rock property testing

Laboratory property testing of aggregates

Aggregate Impact Test (AIV) Aggregate Abrasion Test (AAV)

3.

Slake Durability Test

5 kg sample is rotated at 30 revolutions per minute with 11 steel balls

15 shock blows and sieved to measure weight lost

Standard aggregate tests

For a rock to be used as a road stone it must possess certain properties:
Property
AIV - Aggregate impact value AAV- Aggregate abrasion value PSV-polishing stone value ACV-aggregate crushing value 10% FV 10% fines value Flakiness index CBR- California bearing ratio Water absorption

3.
Poor value
35 25 30 35 20 70 60 10

Test Procedure
% fines lost by hammering on standard rig % loss by abrasion on standard rig Frictional drag recorded by swinging pendulum % fines lost by uniform load crushing on a standard rig Load on an ACV rig to give 10% fines loss Weight % particles with minimum thickness<60% mean Resistance to plunger penetration compared to a standard Weight % increase after immersion in water for 24hrs

Good value
5 1 70 5 400 20 100 0.2

Road stone value

<20 <10 >60

>100 <3 >90 <2

Frost heave

Heave of air-cooled column of sample standing in water

20

<1

Typical UK aggregate properties

How UK aggregates compare to essential road stone properties:
Material Granite Dolerite Greywacke Limestone Flint Coarse sandstone Location Dartmoor North Pennines Pennines Pennines Thames gravels Peak District 10% FV 280 360 220 120 450 90 AIV 16 10 14 20 23 40 AAV 5 4 7 12 1 26 PSV 60 60 65 40 35 74

3.

Red indicates road stone property criteria fulfilled

10% Fines Value: a measure of aggregate strength The load applied to an aggregate sample to cause 10 % loss of fines. Uses aggregate crushing rig (ACV).

3. Tarmac Swinden Limestone Quarry, Cracoe, North Yorkshire Fairport.co.uk

What are the 6 processes of quarrying?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW7iRsut4ck

Quarrying for Crushed Stone Aggregates 3.

Quarrying for Crushed Stone Aggregates 3.

Conveying

Drilling & blasting

Sorting

Secondary crushing

Schematic diagram of an impact crusher

Used for secondary crushing stage of quarrying Stones then go to sorting

3.

Size-specific filter

Laboratory impact crusher

Gravels & Sands

Locations of pits and a licensed dredging area for sands & gravels

2.

Land-won or marine deposits

BGS mineral planning factsheet

Gravels & Sands

Land-won aggregates can be either superficial deposits or bedrock
Superficial deposits are sediments deposited within the last 2 million years mostly during interstadials

2.

River sands & gravels deposited in major river valleys or terraces 1 -10 m thick deposits Well sorted and often mature

Gravels & Sands

Land-won aggregates can be either superficial deposits or bedrock
Superficial deposits are sediments deposited within the last 2 million years mostly during interstadials

2.

River sands & gravels deposited in major river valleys or terraces 1 -10 m thick deposits Well sorted and often mature

Gravels & Sands

Land-won aggregates can be either superficial deposits or bedrock
Bedrock deposits Include poorly-consolidated: Sands of Lower Cretaceous Folkestone Formation of the Weald Conglomerates of Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Formation in the Midlands

2.

Marine Gravels & Sands

Marine aggregates are dredged from the seabed Relict quaternary fluvial deposits, deposited when sea-level much lower during glacial maxima Dredging takes place less than 25 km offshore in 18-35 m depth

2.

Extraction constrained by pipelines, cable routes, wind farms, fisheries & shipping lanes Most important regions are offshore Norfolk, Humber-Wash area and Bristol Channel

Secondary & recycled aggregates

Geograph.org

2.

By-products of quarrying & mining operations are the main source of secondary aggregate
Imerys exporting china clay waste to Southeast & Germany as a mortar replacement

Construction & demolition wastes such as concrete and masonry are the largest source of recycled aggregates. 60 % of C&D waste currently used as construction fill.

Environmental Impact of Dredging

Before dredging After dredging

4.

Hallsands village: This south Devon village stood on a rock platform with a protective beach in front of it. In 1887 offshore shingle dredging steepened the seabed sediment profile. Natural response was lowering and removal of the beach within 5 years, exposing the houses to wave attack. The village was destroyed in a storm in 1917. The shingle was used in the construction of the Devonport docks.

Aggregate Resource Planning

Extractable resources (reserves) can be extracted as they are an economically viable commodity
Economic viability governed by price:cost ratio; a function of mineral grade, concentration, market price Conditional resources have been discovered but are not economically viable

4.

Bulk Resources & Aggregates

1. 2. 3. 4.

Uses & Economics in UK Types & Sources Processing & Testing Environmental Impact

Summary
Aggregates and water are the major resources investigated by applied geoscientists outside the hydrocarbons and metaliferous industries Aggregate testing is carried out according to Eurocode 7 and BS 812 Assessment of reserves requires a detailed understanding of the geology

Ground subsidence associated with mine workings a)Failure in old pillar and stall workings or bell pits b)Effects of multiple pillar collapses c) Long wall mining effects

Hazard zoning over old workings: Coal outcrop positions, dip directions and dip amount are sufficient to identify zones on a geological map of the site where shallow mining could occur - figure assumes collapse of voids in seams >30m bgl unlikely to reach the surface