History

Hard stone such as sandstone, granite and limestone has been used for centuries to construct monuments and buildings. The Roman Empire, for example, built its vast network of roads and aqueducts using aggregates, among other materials. These stones were often extracted from quarries far from the sites where they were used.

The invention of cement and concrete in the 19th century greatly increased demand for aggregates. With the boom in the construction sector, the use of raw materials from stone is growing.

Large volumes of aggregates are still used today, with France alone using 1 million tons per day!

Operations have adapted to meet the needs of customers and a wide range of applications. Today, different forms of aggregates are available:

• rock-based materials may occur naturally (e.g., sand, gravel) or result from crushing: these are referred to as "aggregates",
• "recycled aggregates" created from materials recovered from buildings, road surfaces and a range of industries.

Lafarge's Aggregates Business experienced tremendous growth with the acquisition of:

• Redland, one of the world's leading producers of aggregates and ready-mix concrete, in 1997,
• Blue Circle in 2001.