INQUIRY OF AGGREGATES PRODUCED IN PORTUGAL

Aiming to know the characteristics of the aggregates produced in Portugal, the 200 producers who in October 2008 had completed the certification process of the CE conformity were contacted. A questionnaire was sent to all, requesting also the CE marking of documents, including certificates, declarations of conformity and technical data sheets, as well as the petrographic description reports of their aggregates. The 145 companies that answered correspond to 68.1% of certified companies and to 72.5% of companies that were contacted covering 228 production centers, which correspond to 78.9% of production centers of the companies contacted, and to more than 1700 products. Producers of natural, artificial and recycled aggregates replied and virtually all rock types used in Portugal for the production of aggregates were covered. A total of 106 different sizes were reported, some of which diverging from the established criteria in the normative standards. The results seem to indicate that the shape of the aggregates has some dependence on the petrographic type. A clear preference for the sand equivalent test instead of the methylene blue test was reported. It was observed that the number of all-in aggregates that do not meet the SE50 and MB2.5 categories exceeds 30%. There are several regions of the country where the percentage of aggregates meeting, for example LA30 category is very low.