Aggregate and Petrographic Laboratory

Purpose: The Aggregate and Petrographic Laboratory at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center provides facilities for the preparation and testing of aggregate samples for concrete, asphalt mixtures, and granular base course applications.

Laboratory Description: Facilities are available for characterizing highway materials using wet, analytical, and spectroscopic chemical methods. Included are an Analytical/Spectroscopy Laboratory, a Materials Characterization Laboratory and a wet laboratory for conducting bench scale research.

Laboratory Capabilities: Aggregate preparation and sizing. Working in conjunction with the Chemistry and Petrographic Laboratories, aggregate physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties can be assessed.

Laboratory Equipment: Equipment includes rock crusher, pulverizer, screening, and washing equipment, and full sets of certified standard and intermediate size sieves for coarse, and fine aggregates and for the sizing of minus No. 200 micro-fine materials using sieves, hydrometer, and laser analysis. Various methods of shape, angularity, and texture analysis are available including the AIMS II device as well as Superpave methods and petrographic analysis. Durability and compaction equipment include the Micro-Deval device for fine and coarse aggregate degradation in wet exposures and standard and modified proctor testing and permeability equipment.

Laboratory Services: Testing, characterizing, and preparing aggregate materials for evaluation in concrete, asphalt, and granular base course mixtures as well as trouble-shooting and forensic investigation of performance in pavement and structures applications.