DETERMINATION OF THE PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF NATURAL AGGREGATES FOR ROADS (PART I)

The category of natural aggregates for roads includes materials of mineral origin obtained by extracting and manually or mechanically processing rocks from massive deposits, in shapes and sizes necessary for road works. Minerals are substances, well in-dividualized from a chemical and physical point of view, which, isolated or grouped in different ways, form a wide variety of rocks, which differ from each other in: the mode of formation, their mineralogical composition, their structure and texture. The essential qual-ity conditions are related to the following characteristics: intrinsic characteristics of the source rock that cannot be improved (improved): mineralogical, physical (porosity), me-chanical (compressive strength, wear resistance), manufacturing characteristics that can be improved: grain size, grain shape and impurity content, complementary, specific to lim-ited areas of use such as: angularity, adhesiveness, reactions to alkalis, etc. Each rock must meet certain conditions related to physical and mechanical characteristics, depend-ing on the type of product to be obtained, the field of application and the technical class of the road or the category of street on which it is to be used.