Aggregate quality is maintained by a number of tests that have been designed to predict and safeguard its performance in service. The tests try to mimic the conditions of service exposure, and accelerate or compress the conditions of exposure over tens of years into few hours or few days of the tests. Thus, there are tests to measure the aggregates' response to impact, stress, freezing and thawing, wetting-drying, and chemical reactivity with the environment (cement paste).
A variety of test methods have been developed for a variety of conditions of exposure and use. American Society for Testing of Materials (ASTM) maintains an evolving testing program and most of the specifications used by state and provincial bodies are based on ASTM standards. Presented below are the tests in use for aggregate by the Ministry of Transportation, Ontario. The links are in Acrobat pdf format.
