The paper gives a broad summary of the COURAGE project, a two-year, 10-centre, collaborative project funded by the European Union, national research and industrial contributions. The project has sought to improve our knowledge of the performance of granular material for road construction, in particular investigating in-situ condition, laboratory-based performance testing and in-situ performance evaluation. These aspects were linked together by data analysis and modelling so that the effects of material, condition and application could be understood and strategies for optimal use defined. The paper reports on these studies and shows that successful road construction using thin asphalt layers and thick granular layers is possible even in temperate and frost-affected climates. It clearly illustrates the need for the user to understand the true behaviour of the compacted material at the relevant moisture content, rather than to study individual stone characteristics. Such an approach allows any material to be assessed - even if a non-conventional aggregate - and applied sensibly. The implications for cost savings and natural resource protection are immense. (a)
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