College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

School of Civil Engineering

THE USE OF QUARRY FINES IN ROAD PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION

MSc. Geotechnical Engineering and Management

Literature review Report

Salvatory Lyakurwa,
ID: 1192649

Table of Contents
1

Introduction........................................................................................................ 1
1.1

Background.................................................................................................. 1

1.2

Aim and Objectives........................................................................................ 2

1.3

Research Outlines.......................................................................................... 2

Literature Review................................................................................................. 3
2.1

Concept overview.......................................................................................... 3

2.2

Production of quarry of fines.............................................................................3

2.3

Characteristics of quarry fines...........................................................................4

2.3.1

Particle Size Distribution...........................................................................5

2.3.2

Particle Shape and Texture.........................................................................6

2.3.3

Atterberg Limits...................................................................................... 6

2.3.4

Bulk Density.......................................................................................... 6

2.3.5

Chemical Properties.................................................................................. 7

2.4
2.4.1

The use of quarry fines in unbound applications...............................................8

2.4.2

The use of quarry fines in bound applications................................................13

2.5

Performance of quarry fines on Road Pavement Construction..................................17

2.5.1

Behaviour of Natural Subgrade Soil............................................................17

2.5.2

Characteristic Strength of Quarry Fines on the Pavement Construction.................18

2.6
3

Applications of quarry fines.............................................................................. 8

Conclusion................................................................................................. 21

Reference......................................................................................................... 23

1
1.1

Introduction
Background

Quarry fines are by-products of crushing rock to make aggregates. The production of
aggregates comprises blasting, primary and secondary crushing and screening (Puppala et. al,
2012). The quality of quarry fines depends on the lithology, method of excavation (blasting),
processing plants and degree of processing. However, the uniformity and quality of the
materials influenced by the type rock found in the quarry.
According to Mitchell (2009), the quantity of quarry fines produced in United Kingdom
varies from one quarry to another due to massive scale of operations and demand of the
aggregates, however there may be a local shortage of fines for a specific purpose such as
block plants and requires local quarries to increase fines production by the use of impact
crushers. Stockpiles of quarry fines are growing ever large because of increase of aggregates
levy imposed as a government tax and market demand which vary from urban to local areas,
whereby remote areas get more problems of finding market of fines.
Large stockpiles of quarry fines within the proximity of production can hinder normal quarry
operations which require double handling. In order to utilize quarry fines more, they can
considered as partial or fill replacement material for conventional one such as pavement
construction, site remediation and artificial soil, making blocks, tiles and general (Petavratzi,
2007). One possible significant use of quarry fines is in the road construction as fill, capping
layer or subbase materials. This would result large savings compared to conventional
materials and generate more revenue from the sales (Kumar & Hudson, 1992). However, the
economic value of quarry fines depends on the proximity of suitable quarry fines to the
project.
This project sets to assess the use of quarry fines in road pavement construction.

1.2

Aim and Objectives

The aim of this research is to investigate the possibility of using quarry fines either as
untreated or treated form in the construction of road pavements. In order to achieve the aim,
the following objectives have been established;

(i)

To determine the properties of quarry fines from limestone quarry and compare these
with required properties of pavement materials.

(ii)

To investigate how quarry fines may be used in road pavements in untreated and
stabilized form.

(iii)

To undertake analysis of typical (hypothetical) road using quarry fines of the subbase
layer in pavement construction either as a full or partial replacement material.

1.3

Research Outlines

The study will focus on examining the samples from limestone quarry fines to determine its
suitability. To achieve this, the properties of quarry fines will be investigated through
laboratory tests. The following test will be conducted from each sample of limestone quarry
fines examined;
(i)

Index test : Particle size Distribution (PSD),Optimum moisture content (OMC), Dry
density, Liquid Limit and Plastic Limit,

(ii)

Engineering tests: California Bearing ratio (CBR) and Resilient Modulus (Mr.)

The two samples of limestone quarry fines from each selected quarries will be taken for
laboratory tests. Each sample will be tested in terms of index tests and strength tests in either
untreated or treated. The tests will be conducted according to British Standard. The number
of tests to be conducted as presented in the table 1 below;

2
2.1

Literature Review
Concept overview

Quarry fines are by-products of crushing rock to make aggregates. The production process of
quarry fines consists of blasting, crushing, screening and stockpiling operations. Quarry fines
consist of overburden and rock or processed materials which have no economic value and are
stored temporarily or permanently at the extraction site. Quarry waste and quarry fines
originate in all rock types including sedimentary (sand and gravel, sandstone, limestone and
dolomite), igneous (diorite, dolerite, granite and lava) and metamorphic (marble and slate)
(Mitchell, 2009). According to BS EN standards quarry fines regarded as the fractions of an
aggregate passing 0.063 mm (63 microns),however many quarries refer their fine aggregates
finer than 4 mm as quarry fines (Mitchell, 2009).
According to Manning (2004), the distribution of quarry fines stockpiles is not uniform
across the country; some areas have scarcity than others therefore, regions depend on each
other depending on their demands. However, the proportional of fines produced from
quarrying rocks increased in response to the changes in the design specifications for road
pavements and as consequence of changes in crushing process. Currently, fine aggregates
for asphalt construction is defined as a materials finer than 2mm and fines for other uses,
including concrete, is material passing the 4mm sieve (Manning, 2004). The quarry fines
passing 63microns influences more dust than fines and therefore considered as quarry waste
rather than quarry fines.

2.2

Production of quarry of fines

According to Mitchell (2009),Quarry fines are produced during the crushing, milling and
screening of quarried rock to produce single-size aggregate (ranging from 20 mm to 6 mm)
and other products. Crushing of quarried rock is carried out in stages, with the primary
crushing stage typically carried out using jaw crushers or gyratory crushers and subsequent
(secondary and tertiary) stages by cone or impact crushers. The information about the
quantity of quarry fines produced in the UK is not readily available due to commercial
sensitivity. However, British Geological Survey study estimate that the annual production of
quarry fines is 52.6 million tonnes; this is based on fines production rates of 20% for
limestone, and igneous and metamorphic rock, 10% for sand and gravel, and 25% for
3

sandstone (Mitchell,2009). The percentage of fines based on the tonnage of aggregates

produced from each rock type.
The table 1.1 below shows the estimated amount of fines produced in 2006 into Defra and
UKMY quarries in UK.
Table 1.1 UK Quarry fine production estimates in 2006 (Mitchell, 2009)
Rock Type

Production

Mineral Waste1

Quarry Fines2

Limestone
Igneous &

(Mtpa)
90.0
54.0

(Mtpa)
10.0
6.0

(Mtpa)
22.5
13.5

19.0
93.0
256

2.1
10.3
28.4

6.3
10.3
52.6

Metamorphic
Sandstone
Sand & Gravel
Total

Note 1 = Defra - Waste: Product ratio of 1: 9

Note 2 = UKMY- Fines: Product ratio 1: 9 for Sand + Gravel (<0.063mm), 1: 4 for Limestone, Igneous + Metamorphic and 1: 3 for
Sandstone.

From the table above, the information about the production shows that, two products are
produced during crushing of the aggregates, namely mineral waste and quarry fines. It is
possible that, the production ratio of 1:9 obtained from materials finer than 0.063mm since in
the UKMY quarry this ratio was taken for production of fines from sand and gravel.
Therefore, different ratios results from each quarry influenced by particle size; mineral waste
are materials finer than 63micron and therefore are passing on the same sieve and producing
the same ratio. However, the quarry fines are materials passing sieve sizes greater than
63microns hence producing different ratio depending on the type of crusher.

2.3

Characteristics of quarry fines

Quarry fines are important materials to strengthen the load bearing capacity of the pavement
by distributing the load through a finite thickness (Kumar & Hudson, 1992). It is necessary to
understand the effects of quarry fines in a soil mix for the construction of road pavement.
The key characteristic of the quarry fines which influence on the strength includes; particle
size distribution (PSD), particle shape and texture, density and Atterberg limits. These are the
potential parameters which play an important role in the bonding strength of quarry fines in
the soil mix of pavement construction.

2.3.1

Particle Size Distribution

The grading of fine sizes depends on the type of grain size and type of rock produced and
crusher type. The strength of the quarry fines is also proportional to size of the particles
contained in the fines. Therefore it is necessary to ensure the gradation of particles includes
different size to exhibit themselves within a total matrix that will produce a bound layer of
maximum density when compacted.
According to Ho et al, (2001), the strength of quarry fines increase with increase of particle
size distribution however, the quarry fines give good bonding strength if the type of stone
used is good. Considering, the effect of fine in the concrete strength, it is indicated that
granite and limestone fines with particle sizes large than 0.25mm have large influence on the
concrete strength. From figure 1 below, the results have indicated that granite fines give
slightly high strength than limestone fines (Ho et al, 2001). The granite stones formed from
molten magma having crystalline structure make them stronger and denser which exhibit
inter-particle bonding which results into straining and dislocation. However, limestone rock
is formed from accumulation of sediments formed on the earths surface with a combination
of other minerals such as calcium carbonates, coral fragments which gives lower density and
having variable strength compared to that of granite.

Fig.1 Particle size distribution (cumulative percent) of quarry fine (after Ho et al, 2001)
2.3.2

Particle Shape and Texture

The shapes of the quarry fines influence the strength properties of the materials, cement
content requirements and its workability. Rounded and irregular fines are highly workable
but yield low strength in their final end product. The flaky fines require more cement paste to
reach its strength and they produce maximum voids which are not desirable. The angular
shape of the fines provides more strength when applying cement content (Duggal, 2008). It
5

should be noted that, like aggregates, the texture (roughness and shining surface) of the
quarry fines influence the adhesion of binder contents, hence the strength of the soil-fines
mix.
2.3.3

Atterberg Limits

Quarry fines behave like fine grain soils that exist in their normal states depending on the
water content. When the fines exhibit non-plastic behaviour, they provide predictable
strength characteristic and better drainage, therefore atterberg limits are used to assess these
properties. The Atterberg limits exists in four states, namely (semi solid and solid state),
shrinkage limits, plastic limits and liquid limits. The limits are essential to provide
specifications, control of the fine parameters and therefore the bearing characteristics of the
road pavement. In essence, the limits give descriptions of the fine parameters which are
controlling the design of the pavement. According to Lambe & Whitman (1979),The
plasticity index. Indicating the magnitude of water content range over which the fines remain
plastic, and the liquidity index, indicating the nearest of its natural liquidity index. However,
these limits dont give indication of particle fabric or residual bonds between particles which
may have been developed but have destroyed in the preparation of samples.
2.3.4

Bulk Density

The bulk density of the quarry fines depends on their packing, shape, size and moisture
content. The high bulk density increases due to packing of the fines, hence low air voids
(Duggal, 2008). The increase of quarry fines in the soil exhibit low voids and preserve high
water content before drying with subsequently increase in density. In essence, the design
considers dry density on the compaction effort to specify required density of compaction in
relation to percentage of water content to achieve engineering characteristics such as
strength, stiffness and resistance to shrink.

Fig.2 The relationship between Dry density and Water content (Holtz and Kovacs, 1981)
2.3.5

Chemical Properties

Quarry fines are crushed from natural stones of limestone and granite which contain very
minor trace elements to affect the fines strength. However, the stone strata found in the
coastal areas such as limestone contains amount of carbonates and the presence of calcium
and potassium contents.
The study conducted on various quarry site in United Kingdom using a scanning electron
microscope to ascertain chemical contents in the fine have found very few traces of heavy
element were present in all samples tested; however, some samples showed the highest
amount of aluminate and iron and high level of potassium (Ghataora et. al (2004). The report
also showed that, the high levels of calcium oxide were expected as the quarry is located in
the limestone stratum, however one quarry site showed high levels of calcium and
magnesium oxide with other trace elements such as copper and bromine (Ghataora et. al
(2004).
It is important to note that, the levels of magnesium and calcium contents in the quarry fines
dont have chemical effect however they are also required to increase bonding strength to the
soil as well as lime stabilisation process.

2.4

Applications of quarry fines

The applications of fines are extracted from various studies conducted on the properties of
quarry fines in different countries, mainly United Kingdom and United States of America.
The utilisation of quarry fines in the pavement construction and non-construction use is seen
as a way to minimise the accumulation of unwanted material and at the same time to
maximise their use and efficiency (Petavratzi, 2007). Quarry fines have classified into
unbound and bound applications depending on the utilization projections; however each
category requires some technical specification during processing in order to comply with the
intended use (Petavratzi, 2007). In view of the above, the unbound and bound quarry fines
have defined by MIRO (2011) terms of;
Unbound fines Are used in the reclamation of mineral working and bulk filling application
(e.g. mine fill). Other applications reported include road pavement construction and soil
additives. The latter is of particular significance where the geology and chemistry of the fines
can alter soil acidity.
Bound fines Projects have investigated the use of quarry fines as a major constraint of
pumpable infill grout, concrete and heavy duty ceramics such as bricks and tiles. A novel
process has been developed manufacturing lightweight aggregates using waste plastic and
quarry fines (plasmega). Other applications have included asphalt road paving materials and
shore protection.
2.4.1

The use of quarry fines in unbound applications

Unbound quarry fines have several uses in the construction industries as they are substitutes
of aggregates in unbound mixtures, such as subcases and capings (Petavratzi, 2007). They are
useful for improvement of backfill materials for road formation and embankment
construction. Therefore, the quarry fines are necessary to meet technical specifications
conform to the requirements of pavement materials.
2.4.1.1 Bulk filling applications
Quarry fines are commonly used in reclamation of mineral workings, both alongside the
development of quarrying activities and during closure. Reclamation can be an economically
viable for quarry fines use because; the material is used on site instead of being transported to

a different location/end user (Petavratzi, 2007). Filling the voids in surface and underground
mining working is applicable; however it is not always necessary due to the fact that some
mineral extractions such as sands and gravels extend below water table. The partial filling
and landscaping can convert such sites into recreational area (Petavratzi, 2007 cited in Bell,
2007). Infilling voids may use various materials such as quarry fines, overburden material,
tailings, slurries from lagoons, and inert waste. The physical and chemical properties, the
bulking and settlement characteristics, and the compaction and stability of the fill are of great
importance in backfilling or infilling activities (Petavratzi, 2007).
The fines are generally used in embankment fills, the embankment fills considered as little
and of low value however, large quantities of materials are required especially when
embankments are crossing rivers. The fill materials considered to have medium to high
strength of which some are available along construction site with competitive price,
therefore, quarry fines have advantage of competing these to enhance value for money
especially when such quarries exists in a proximity of the project.
Research work investigated the use of sandstone quarry sand in engineering fill applications
and confirmed its suitability; however, other studies have showed that moisture susceptibility
and frost heave would prevent the use of quarry fines in unbound sub-base applications,
unless processing removed or diluted the filler fraction (Petavratzi, 2007).
The study conducted on shear strength characteristics of recycled materials and quarry fines
were also examined with, and without, reinforcement. The results have found that recycled
materials have lower shear strength values; however, the presence of geosynthetic
reinforcement layers increased the shearing resistance of materials (re-cycles and fines) by
approximately 50% (Touahamia et al, 2002). In general, the quarry fines are very important
and they very useful in bulk filling in fissures, embankment, land fill and offshore
construction (Ghataora et al, 2004) resulting to the reduction of construction costs. Therefore,
the quarry fines should meet particular technical specification in order to be suitable for
filling to avoid structural failures on treated area.

The geotechnical criteria that specify material suitable for use as fill are described in the
European Standard BS EN 1997-1 (BSI, 2004a) and a summary is shown in Table 2
(Petavratzi, 2007).
Table3.2 Geotechnical requirements for materials used in fill application (Petavratzi, 2007)
Principle requirements to be considered
good material handling properties

adequate engineering properties

transport/storage requirements

Applications
fills beneath foundation and ground slabs
backfill to excavations and retaining
structures
general landfill including hydraulic fill,
landscape mounds and spoil heaps
embankments

for

small

dams

and

infrastructure
Criteria
Strength; stiffness; durability; permeability

Fill properties
Grading;
resistance
compatibility;
organic

to

crushing;

permeability;

plasticity;

content;

chemical

aggression;

pollution effects; solubility; susceptibility to

volume

changes

(swelling

clays

and

collapsible materials); low temperature and

frost susceptibility; resistance to weathering;
effect of excavation, transportation and
placement;

possibility

of

cementation

occurring after placement (for example,. blast

furnace slags).
2.4.1.2 Road Pavement Construction
The size and mixtures of quarry fine materials have major role to play in the deformation of
road pavement. The unbound quarry fines are inelastic and they experience non-recoverable
deformation after load application, however the load increment of non-recovery deformation
is much smaller compared to the increment of resilient/recoverable deformation (Osei, 2001).
The previous study has indicated that, the qurry fines in unbound mixtures for road pavement
have potentially held due to inappropriate specification (Maning.2004).Therefore it is
essential that, the detailed specifications and characteristics strength of the quarry fine
10

materials are appropriately examined to ascertain their performance, hence sustainable

construction materials.
The strength of fines for backfilling has proved appropriate without fabric reinforcement to
strengthen the soil. The research conducted and reported in ICAR 4th annual symposium,
1996 on the advantage of using crushed stone quarry as a backfill for mechanically earth
walls by testing granite screening, limestone pond fines and natural pit sands for strength,
permeability and chemical properties; the results have shown that, the crushed quarry fines
require less fabric reinforcement than natural sand (Parker, 1996). According to this study,
the quarry fines gain more strength depending on fines contents however on the addition of
artificial materials such as geotextiles, cement and liming (pozzolan) increases more strength.
2.4.1.3 Soil Improvement with Compost
Quarry fines are useful for site remediation and soil improvement as they considered having
essential minerals for plant growth such as potassium, iron, magnesium and manganese in
form of sulphates that acts as catalysts to make plants release enzymes. According to
Petavratzi (2007), uses of quarry fines in soil includes; enhanced soil fertility and diverse
soil biology; enhanced plant establishment, growth and vigour; enhancement of flavour,
aroma and shelf-life of produce; high dry matter content, drought resistance, nutritional
value and some plant disease resistance of plants; in compost, increases in process
performance with integrated resource use and carbon requisitioning by calcium and
magnesium carbonate formation, microfloral accumulation and c-accumulation as soil and
crop biomass. The use of quarry fines in the soil improvement has been done on various
countries including United Kingdom to examine the use of fines in varieties of crops and
plant. The study carried in UK on artificial soils for quarry restoration on five sites, where
non-waste by- product materials from aggregates workings were used to form soils with and
without the admixing of green compost waste for vegetation assessments of subsequent
growth on a range of mixed seeds and plants for 14 different soil and seed/plant
combinations. The findings indicated that, only four (4) plots soil combinations were
unsuccessfully for plant growth, the other ten (10) plots combination were successfully
improved as a result of adding green waste compost (Walton & Jarvis, 2011). It is therefore
recommended the use of quarry fines as it has a wide use including improving of the
biodiversity in the sites without using natural soils. The quarry fines are essential materials

11

for introduction of agricultural land to build sustainability that reduces the amount of fines
disposed to landfill.
Another research conducted to asses potential combination of quarry fines composite for
development of horticulture and land restoration using tomato plants and grass as a trials
performance for two weeks; the results concluded that, most quarry fines interact positively
with composts to give potential growing of horticultural and land restoration; however, the
report recommend further investigation on the ratio of composite and quarry fines to
potentially reduce the initial level of nitrogen in blend and reduction of nitrate leaching
(Guillou & Davies, 2004).
2.4.1.4 Artificial Soils
Quarry fines may also be used to produce artificial soils (Petavratzi, 2007). According to BS
3882, three grades of topsoil are established, premium, the general purpose, and economy
grade (BSI, 1994) therefore, characterized by textural classification, maximum

stone

content, pH value, nutrients content, Loss on ignition, exchangeable sodium percentage

(Petavratzi, 2007). Previous researches has been conducted on artificial soil production such
as (Lamb, 2005; Keeling et al, 2001; Mitchell et al, 2004) shows that the textural
classification of premium grade topsoil can be achieved by using a 70:30 (v/v) blend of the
filler fraction (<75 m) of sandstone quarry sand or as produced sandstone quarry sand and a
suitable organic material by premium topsoil and filler fraction, but not from the as produced
sandstone quarry sand (Petavratzi, 2007).
The research conducted to remediate acidic colliery spoil to establish longevity of the
treatment using quarry wastes on grass growing trials undertaken at various compositions of
colliery spoil, limestone dust and steel slag. The results of the trials showed a success on the
most appropriate mix containing 5% of each limestone and compost and 4% of steel slag
(Tarmac Ltd & Associates, 2007).
2.4.1.5 Filler Applications
According to Petavratzi (2007), quarry fines may be used as a substitute for primary
materials which are used as fillers in a paper, paint, plastics, rubber and elsewhere. Mineral
fillers are used in a wide range of commodities and commonly comprise fine grained
materials (<2 mm). Previous study has indicated the use of filler from limestone, dolomite

12

and basalt quarries improves the strength of Portland cement mortars due to accelerated
hydration, mixing proportion, density and fineness of the particles (Kumar & Hudson, 1992).
The Research aiming at developing low cost by-product fillers where specification and end
use do not demand high grade fillers showed that, the use of mineral residues of calcareous
and siliceous composition from aggregate quarries in end uses such as elastomeric
membranes, paints, paper and plastic. Siliceous and calcareous quarry fines have been shown
to be suitable for use in elastomeric membranes and a large scale trial was carried out for the
calcareous materials (Petavratzi, 2007).
Other study conducted on the use of calcareous micronised quarry fines in the production of
glass reinforced plastics, the results found that, partial substitution of extenders does not
impair the quality of the panels produced. However, micronized calcareous quarry fines
could be substituted up to 5% wood pulp in paper pulp without influencing the production
procedure (Petavratzi, 2007).

2.4.2

The use of quarry fines in bound applications

The utilization of quarry fines could be extended to other uses than unbound form. Petavratzi
(2007) report has mentioned utilization of quarry fines in bound applications such as
controlled low strength materials, masonry products, asphalt and asphalt surface treatments,
hydraulic bound mixtures and mortar; however, the materials should meet standard
requirements to be used for intended applications.
2.4.2.1 Asphalt and Surfacing Materials
Several studies have indicated that, the graded fine aggregates can improve the strength of
base coarse material for road construction and bitumen-based binders; However, the fine
aggregates have less strength than coarse materials for road construction (Manning, 2004).
The quarry fines belongs to particle size between less than 5mm and classified filler materials
(passes the 63 m sieve),they are very suitable for hot mix bitumen mix and they are useful
to increase the stiffness of the binder.
The previous study indicated that, although the mineral filler in hot mix play an important
role in stiffening the binder, the increase of toughness and fracture resistance due to the
13

mineralogy are still less known, however the performance of asphalt mix depends on the
angularity properties of the fines (Manning, 2004). Therefore it is necessary to find out, the
appropriate specifications to guide the use of quarry fines (fine aggregates) for the asphalt
mix in the design as a quality control tool.
2.4.2.2 Fines as aggregate materials in concrete
The optimization of quarry fines can bring advantages over the construction industry as a
substitute of the other materials. In addition, the use of quarry fines to concrete bonding is
characterized by particle size distribution and other grading properties. This has revealed on
recent proceeding on replacement of sand with quarry fine by 100% were taken into different
ratios on the effect of fines in concrete strength, the results have indicated the strength
increase by 30% for 56 day, however the addition of quarry fines to coarse aggregates by the
ratio of 0.6 increase the compressive strength as well as elastic modulus (Sivakumar &
Prakash, 2011).
The research has also conducted to analyses the behaviour of fines in the concrete by testing
and classifying the fines for concrete and using image analysis to characterized fines; the
analyses aims to provide the aggregate performance on the concrete strength and producers
to monitor the quality aspects of the product, the gradation specification indicated
unsatisfactory on concrete strength and recommend the need to develop a performance-based
specifications without controlling gradation of fines (Manning, 2004). Therefore, there is a
need to develop guidelines which would provide clear specifications of fines to enhance
performance of concrete production.
Quarry fines have shown to produce high concrete strength on the production of concrete
structures for erosion with a range which is outside the standard specifications BS 882:1992
for 28 days curing; the laboratory results indicated that, the concrete strength increase to
more than 70 N/mm (MIRO,2011). The quarry fines showed to contribute much on the
concrete strength; however, gradation plays important role to enhance bonding strength.
2.4.2.3 Application of fines to make synthetic and lightweight aggregates
Several discussions concerning the effective use of quarry fines have shown particle size
distribution and its quality as the main concern. The quality and size distribution of the

14

particles can be addressed by binding the fines to make coarser particle and more uniform
particles artificially (Manning, 2004). Therefore, the quality of quarry fines can be increase
by blending with other materials to produce good performance.
The production of light weight aggregates where fly ash, quarry fines and waste sludge
mixed with clay binder (2-3% by weight) described by Weinecke and Faulkner (2002) where
the mixture is fired in a rotary kiln and the product screened for size. However, this method
doesnt specify the type of materials used. Granite quarry fines have been used to produce
lightweight aggregate by blending with paper sludge, clay and dredged sediments. The
results of quarry produced were tested in concrete and found favourably with natural and
artificially lightweight (Manning, 2004).
According to MIRO (2011),the research carried at the University of Greenwich on the use
of quarry fines plus combustion residues as carbon dioxide reactive binders for lightweight
aggregate production (Gunning, 2009). The results of the tests, showed that, the strength of
the manufactured lightweight aggregates in this study was deemed very interesting, with the
potential for application in many areas and performance equivalent to existing lightweight
aggregates on the market. Particular interest was the potential application as a replacement
for foamed concrete in internal partition walls.
2.4.2.4 Tiles
Quarry tiles are manufactured from clays and slate fines less than 100 micron and they have
been used to make ceramic tiles (Catarino et.al, 2003). Residue powders resulting from
cutting and machining operations in slate quarries were processed by a press and sintering
route to manufacture ceramic products such as flooring and roofing tiles. The study showed
that, tiles made from slate quarry fines do have better density, water absorption and bend
strength than those of ceramic tiles and suitable for flooring tiles (Cantarino et.al, 2003).
2.4.2.5 Application of quarry fines as block and brick making
The bricks are made from a combination of quarry fines, lime and gypsum, and they are
pressure moulded. The air cured bricks can be made without firing if curing can be caused by
chemical reaction, forming non-sinter chemical bricks. Another method of making bricks is
by vibrating and compacting quarry fines mixed with binder materials in a mould and

15

compacted. In United States, quarry fines have been used instead, as a method of making
building blocks. The fines are combined with calciferous additive and waste and cured under
the influence of controlled pressure and temperature for pre-determined time and precise and
desired products are produced (Manning, 2004).
Wilding and Sayer (2002),describe how an aqueous granite powder suspension,
consolidated with 5% cement and 5% coal fly-ash and cured 90 days, and used to make
artificial reef block. The blocks exceed the strength requirement for commercial building
blocks by five times and were tested for metal leaching; which found to be significant but
low. They were deemed physically robust, environmentally safe and cheaper to produce
compared with standard construction grade blocks (Manning, 2004).
2.5

Performance of quarry fines on Pavement Construction

The application of quarry fines in the pavement construction has become materials to be
under consideration and sustainability of the industry. The use of quarry fines for road
pavement wouldnt be the alternative road materials but would allow cost serving of the
projects compare to conventional materials.
According to Puppala et al (2008), In the United States, the market for recycled materials
comprise of recycled asphalt pavements, light weight aggregates, fly ash, and quarry fines
which are estimated to be between 352 million tons (320 million metric tons) and 859 million
tons (780 million metric tons) per year. It is estimated that out of 41 million tons produced,
33 million tons (nearly 80%) are used effectively in the pavement and other geotechnical
construction.

However, quarry fines amounts 175 million tons are used by Highway

agencies as treated sub-bases, allowable fills, embankment fills and stabilized bases (Holtz &
Eighty, 2000). Therefore, using quarry fines in the pavement construction offers great
opportunities to re-cycle materials as well as extending the traditional supply and
constructing high quality roads.
The study carried for application of recycled quarry fines, by substituting the natural sand,
minimized the requirement of expensive chemical admixtures, high-range water-reducing
admixture and viscosity-modifying admixture (VMA) without affecting the strength of selfcompacting concrete proved to be an economical solution to concrete producers (Puppala et
al ,2008).

16

2.5.1

Behaviour of Natural Subgrade Soil

The construction of road pavement is done after detailed geotechnical investigations and
explorations have been conducted. The soil survey alignment always conducted in such a
way that, it classifies all materials according to their suitability in load bearing layers within
the zone of the design depth (PMDM, 1999). The number of samples collected at section of
road depends on the design manual designation. The experience has shown that, different
design manuals allows minimum of four bore-hole samples per kilometer to be taken at equal
intervals in an alternating direction (centre,left,right &centre). The depth of sampling
depends also on the designation manuals, the minimum depth being 0.6m. The depth of
borehole increases depending on the geology of the area and the condition of the ground
section if needs special consideration. The aim of these sampling is to classify subgrade soils
for engineering purposes. The laboratory tests should analyze each bore-holes strength. The
strength analyzed in these investigations includes Atterberg limits (liquid limits and plastic
limits), particle size distribution, optimum moisture contents and California bearing ratio
(CBR). The results of the analysis are used as baseline design of the pavement layers.
2.5.2

Strength of quarry fines on the Pavement Construction

The general characteristics of quarry finest have mentioned earlier in this report. The
properties of the quarry fines are evaluated to determine their performance in the pavement
construction. Two types of tests are performed to evaluate the performance of fines; namely
index tests and strength tests.
2.5.2.1 Index tests
The index properties of quarry fines comprises of classification fines into particles size
distribution. This classification establishes engineering properties which would be a
comparative to the pavement requirements. The tests conducted in the index test include;
Particle size distribution (PSD), Optimum moisture content (OMC), liquid limit and plastic
limit.
According to Puppala et al. (2012),characteristic strength have been done on series of
laboratory index tests with two selected materials which are recycled asphalt materials (RAP)
and quarry fines (QF) to classify the materials and engineering tests to understand the
strength, compressibility, and resilient behaviour of these recycled materials including
Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), a vertical free swell test, a 1-Dimensional

17

consolidation test and a resilient modulus test. The QF had 25% materials retained on 2mm
sieve and classified as silty sand and RAP had 48% materials retained on 4.75mm sieve with
maximum particle size 20mm and classified as poorly graded gravel (GP). The results
obtained according to ASTM D-4546 method indicated that, QF had OMC of 11.2% with
corresponding dry weight 18.8kN/m3. The addition of 2.3% cement to QF decreases its dry
weight slightly to 17.9kN/m3 however the optimum moisture content increased to 13.8%.
The RAP had an OMC of 6% and a corresponding dry unit weight of 21.3kN/m3 as per
standard Proctor compaction test results.
2.5.2.2 Strength Test
The strength of the quarry fines depends on the size of the particles and angularity. However,
several studies have indicated that, the strength of quarry fines increases on the additional of
cement contents (Sivakumar & Prakash, 2011). Conversely, in the road construction, the
strength of the quarry fines can be increased by addition of stabilizing materials such as
cement, lime and fibres.
Previous tests carried on unconfined compressive strength tests where both cement stabilized
quarry fines and unstabilized quarry fines, compacted at the optimum moisture contents
indicated that; the unstabilized QF specimens exhibited a low strength equal to 120 kPa,
however the cement stabilized quarry fines tested after 7 days curing period in a controlled
curing environment showed a peak UCS value close to 1440 kPa, which is 12 times more
than the strength of the untreated QF material. The report concluded that, the high strength of
stabilized QF attributed by reaction of the cement and the fine sandy fraction of the QF
material (Puppala et al. 2012). It is essential that, more studies should be carried on other
blending materials such as pozzolan (lime) and fibres to ascertain their performance.
The trials undertaken to determine the performance of quarry fines to a road sub-base
materials in UK by various tests; the analysis of foundation stiffness from Falling Weight
Deflectometer (FWD) showed that, the strength of limestone fines vary from 355MPA to
369MPa for the selected sites, however their permeability were almost the same 3.1-3.5x10-4
while CBR vary from 53% to 54% which compares with requirement specification of
Highway materials for sub-base to have at least 30% CBR (Tarmac Ltd & Associates,2007).
Another research was carried on four gradations of limestone aggregates sourced from
Brownwood, Texas to study the synergistic impact of quarry fines, moisture, and light
18

stabilization of aggregate systems. The main mode of stabilization of the fines with low
levels of Portland cement (1% to 2%) was to develop a cement matrix primarily of calcium
silicate hydrate (CSH) among the fine aggregate. Subsequently concentration of calcium due
to the addition of Portland cement being high in the fines matrix of limestone particles, the
calcium carbonate matrix developed. It was therefore concluded that, major strength
improvements could be achieved through time dependent soil-cement and pozzolanic
reactions (Ashtiani & Little, 2007).
2.5.2.3 Resilient Modulus Tests
The road pavement materials undergoing various levels of stresses imposed by traffic loading
over the surface of the pavement structure. The sub-base provide the foundation of the road,
hence its bearing capacity. The materials required to construct this part of the road should be
strong enough to resist any incoming load from traffic movements.
According to Alemgena et. al (2012), the granular base and sub-base materials are used to
provide the bulk of the bearing capacity of the road. However, granular base and sub-base
materials are often not used to their fullest extent due to the fact that pavement designs in
developing countries are empirical in nature. Moreover, most of the design procedures
employed in the design of roads originate from the industrialized countries, where the main
structural element is the asphalt layer and the significance of the granular base and sub-base
are virtually reduced to that of a working platform. Therefore, in the mechanisticempirical
(ME) pavement design procedures, the granular materials are not considered strongly. In
order to consider mechanisticempirical (M-E) in the design procedures, stiffness (resilient
modulus) of the confined layers of pavement has to be measured.
Resilient modulus is used to characterize pavement materials under loading that will not
result in failure (Wu et.al, 2009). The stiffness of a pavement layer depends on compaction,
degree of saturation, particle sizes and shape and stress state of the layers that affect the
resilient modulus.
According to Saghafi & Nageim (2010),The study carried out at the University of Liverpool
on the behaviour of unbound material with 10% to 30% extra dust aiming to use as much
dust as possible in the matrix of road base and subbases material (Saghafi and Al Nageim,
2009a). Type 1 materials with 30% extra dust, having the least resilient modulus, was
selected for stabilisation by Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA)-lime and Granulated Blast-furnace

19

Slag (GBS). Based on the experience of the research team, slurry of 5% PFA-lime (with 4:1
proportion) and 10% GBS were added to the dry aggregate to provide the following mixes:
Mix 1: Type 1 limestone + 30% limestone waste dust + 4% PFA + 1% Lime and Mix 2: Type
1 limestone + 30% limestone waste dust + 10% GBS; the results showed that, the addition of
GBS hadnt been able to compensate the stiffness (stiffness modulus 250kPa), whereas 5%
PFA-lime improved the dust materials through cementitious process to 1150kPa stiffness
modulus. The test indicated that the growth in the stiffness in mix 1 took place slowly which
prevented the bound material to crack and face reduction in stiffness.
According to the research study conducted at University of Texas, USA to determine the
resilient modulus of cemented quarry fines (CQF) and quarry fines (QF) using AASHTO test
procedure, T307-99 which simulate the traffic wheel load on the in situ soil and applied
wave-pulse load frequency of 10Hz; the mixture compacted at moisture content in three
layers and cured for 7 days, and then subjected to testing after curing period. The results
showed that, cemented QF exhibited higher moduli than the control samples. The resilient
modulus of QF and CQF increased with an increase in confining stress. The trend explains
that the cemented granular material behaves as a strain hardening and the MR properties
depend on the confining pressure conditions (Puppala et.al 2008). The performance of quarry
fines increase the strength when mixed with cementitious materials however, the curing
increases its strength due to bonding of inter-particle between fines.
2.6

Conclusion

The literature review focused on the use of quarry fines for construction of road pavement.
Quarry fines consist of overburden and rock or processed materials which have no economic
value and are stored temporarily or permanently at the extraction site. The British Standards
regards quarry fines as the fractions of an aggregate passing 0.063 mm (63 microns),however
many quarries refer the materials finer than 4 mm as quarry fines (Mitchell, 2009).
The quantity of quarry fines produced in the UK is not readily available due to commercial
sensitivity. However in 2006, the estimated annual production of quarry fines was 52.6
million tonnes; this is based on fines production rates of 20% for limestone, and igneous and
metamorphic rock, 10% for sand and gravel, and 25% for sandstone (Mitchell, 2009). The
percentage of fines based on the tonnage of aggregates produced from each rock type.

20

Quarry fines are important materials to strengthen the load bearing capacity of the pavement
by distributing the load through a finite thickness (Kumar & Hudson, 1992). This strength is
influenced by the characteristic of the quarry fines which affects the bonding strength and
compaction effort in the soil mix.
The findings have shown that quarry fines are suitable materials for different use either as
bound or unbound application. The different uses of fines were discussed in the literature
include bulk fill, road pavement construction, soil remediation and for the production of
artificial soils and filler in unbound application. The use of quarry fines in bound applications
include construction products such as heavy ceramics, manufactured aggregates, block
making, concrete, and asphalt surfacing materials.
The quarry fines have good performance on the pavement construction in terms of its index
tests, strength test and resilient modulus strength. The review has shown that the unstabilized
quarry fines exhibit a low strength than the cement stabilized quarry fines tested after 7 days
curing period by 12 times more than the strength of the untreated material. The performance
obtained from Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) showed to have high strength of
limestone fines and CBR vary from 53% to 54% while the resilient modulus increases when
mixed with cementitious materials by 4 times more than the untreated materials.

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