Abstract Aggregate characteristics govern concrete pavement performance by influencing fresh-state constructability, mechanical response, transport-related durability, thermal deformation, and long-term surface functionality. This review synthesizes literature on aggregate gradation, particle morphology, absorption and porosity, abrasion and polish resistance, strength and stiffness, coefficient of thermal expansion (CoTE), and chemical reactivity, and relates these characteristics to pavement-scale performance indicators, including cracking, joint distress and faulting, roughness progression quantified by IRI, and skid resistance. This review provides an integrated, pavement-driven framework that links aggregate properties to governing mechanisms and representative screening and confirmation methods, with emphasis on performance relevance rather than isolated material indices. The reviewed evidence indicates that pavement distress evolves through coupled mechanical, moisture-transport, thermal, and chemical processes, and that aggregate effects are conditioned by exposure severity, drainage and support conditions, and construction quality. Reported acceptance thresholds for indices such as LA abrasion loss, absorption, ASR expansion, and CoTE vary across aggregate sources, test methods, and agency specifications, limiting the transferability of single-property criteria across regions. The literature supports performance-driven aggregate qualification based on complementary testing, mechanistic sensitivity checks, and calibration to local materials and field performance history to improve the durability, functional performance, and service life of concrete pavements.
Rahmani et al. (Mon,) studied this question.