ABSTRACT
The lack of natural aggregates in various regions of the country, particularly in the Amazon (Fig. 1), constitutes a serious obstacle to highway construction. Summing together the geologic scarcity of mineral deposits, the severe (and correct) environmental restrictions regarding their exploration, serve to
aggravate this need, thus making the search for artificial aggregates an attractive alternative. In Brazil, the principal studies about technologies related to the discovery of artificial aggregates had continued to advance due to the efforts of scientific and strategic research towards this end.
