2A - Materials

The optimal utilisation of materials, locally available on the site, of a road project is today a priority, both from an economic objective and an environmental objective contributing to sustainable development.

Consequently, the identification and knowledge of the resources that materials constitute, are fundamental and require in-depth and high-performance studies.

The materials used in the construction of earth-structures of a road infrastructure come from various sources. We mainly distinguish:

• natural materials, soils or rocks, available locally on the road project site: cuttings or borrowings; or where applicable, when necessary, borrow pits or quarries (materials most often transformed by mechanical processing operations: screening, crushing, ...).
• marginal natural materials, when a methodology for using these materials may be appropriate for optimal use.
• possibly, alternative materials when available close to the project: industrial by-products, non-hazardous waste, etc… the use of which may be of significant environmental interest.

The different types of materials that constitute resources for an economic infrastructure project are presented in 3 booklets that can be downloaded from this page:

• 2A.I Natural materials soils and rocks,
• 2A.II Case of marginal materials,
• 2A.III Alternative materials.

MANUAL PARTS

PREAMBLE
PART 1 - General considerations
PART 2 - Specific technical development

2A / Materials
2B / Treatment of materials
2C / Earthworks project
2D / Earthworks execution and controls
2E / Environmental aspects