This paper was presented at the `Strategic investment alternatives for sustainable roadway materials' session. This paper presents a theoretical aggregate extraction exercise for a 15 year highway pavement program in an aggregate scarce area in southwest Saskatchewan. Aggregate depletion in the area was identified as a developing condition that would affect the cost of highway construction and maintenance. There was also a perception that current aggregate use policies may not be fully functional in an aggregate-scarce condition. The study was an exercise to create an experience of a future condition using the real context of a 15 year aggregate consumption plan for highways and aggregate sources in a real location. Observations of questions, difficulties and issues arising from doing the exercise provided an insight into the possible methods to resolve these by starting to modify our current aggregate-use practices to be functional in the future aggregate-scarce condition. The theoretical extraction exercise was effective in that it created questions, difficulties and issues that may not be identified by simply thinking about what these might be. Those questions, difficulties and issues are described and suggestions for their resolution are given.
Abstract