Assuring future availability of aggregate supplies for highway construction and maintenance purposes will largely depend upon the effectiveness of today's aggregate management practices. There is a need to increase the pavement structure of the highway network in order to accommodate the dramatic increase in the number and weights of truck axle groups in the last decade. Several areas of Manitoba are beginning to experience the finite nature of the resource and measures must be taken to better manage the use of existing sources as well as to establish an active exploration program in search of new deposits. The Materials & Research Branch of MTGS has been given the mandate to develop and recommend an action plan to take a more direct hand in the inventory and management of the province's aggregate resource to secure its fair share of the finite resource. The Branch is in the process of formulating an aggregate management plan that will enable it to control strategically located sources to meet future critical demands. This plan is considered essential to fulfill its mandate to provide a safe and sustainable highway system. For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD number E211271.
Abstract