Aggregate Materials

Aggregates - rock, sand and crushed stone - are natural resources that are essential to our quality of life and are used in nearly all residential, commercial and industrial building construction and public works projects. These projects include roads, highways, bridges, railroads, dams, airports, water and sewer systems as well as our homes, churches, synagogues, schools, and office buildings.

Aggregates are essential to our nation's progress.

15,000 tons of aggregates go into the average hospital or school

$50 billion per year are needed to maintain our current national highway system

400 tons of aggregates are required for the average modern home

85,000 tons of crushed stone go into one lane-mile of interstate highway

80 percent of asphalt is recycled and reused

Aggregate Shortage

Aggregates are Natural Resources protected by the State of California. Some areas in California already have less than a 10-year supply of permitted aggregates and California as a whole is projected to have a 9.2 billion ton shortfall of construction materials over the next 50 years. This shortage threatens economic development, growth management, environmental protection and our quality of life.

This map and accompanying text provides general information about the mineral shortfall in each of California's counties.

Aggregate Availability in California

Distance Matters

Local Products Protect the Environment and Reduce Cost

Based on transporting one million tons of aggregate material in 25 ton capacity trucks:

For every mile saved in transport, 75 metric tons of CO2, the primary greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, are eliminated and 7,530 gallons of diesel fuel are saved.