Abstract
Construction aggregates derived from primary resources either by crushing of sound rock masses (crushed stone aggregates) or from naturally occurring unbound clastic sediments (natural sand and gravel aggregates) make the most voluminous mineral raw material exploited by humans nowadays. Extremely low per-unit cost of the extracted raw material makes aggregates highly sensitive to transport distance from a quarry to the construction site.
According to this basic relationship, constructional aggregates quarries should be preferably located close to their markets-construction sites. Aggregates belong to the essential materials needed for the development and maintenance of the infrastructure and built environment of our civilization.
They can also be considered as one of the critical materials securing standards of our well-being. Various aspects of aggregates desire research interest from at least three research communities: geologists (including engineering geologists) who participate in the evaluation of aggregate deposits and quality of aggregates, civil engineers who utilize them, and environmental scientists who increasingly face the problems related to impacts of extensive aggregate exploitation.
Lack of sound and detailed investigation of rock materials aimed as a source of construction aggregates (often consequence of apparent cheapness of the raw material and the products-constructional aggregate) can have serious consequences: both in terms of safety of the built environment and its durability. Necessity of premature maintenance or even replacement of deteriorating built structures inevitably involves substantial additional cost.
Aggregates thus deserve much more attention from geologists than it was common in past decades. It is evident that geologists became to be more and more involved in the evaluation of causes of premature damage of civil engineering structures by using their standard tools-microscopy and related analytical techniques.