Virginia Tech & University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign Apply for Grant to Explore Feasibility of a National Aggregates Research Center

Last summer, members of the VTCA Technical Committee and the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA)  met with representatives from Virginia Tech’s Civil Engineering and Mining and Minerals Engineering Departments to pitch the concept of a National Aggregates Research Center.

Fast forward to March 2023, the concept is gaining momentum. Virginia Tech and NSSGA have added the University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign (UIUC) as a co-lead for the research facility and have developed the AggReGaTe, Center for Aggregate Research, Geochemistry, and Technology.

The Center has applied for a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that, if awarded, will fund the Research Center’s next step in planning the development and building the stakeholder alliances and funding that will sustain it. The concept is for the stakeholders to identify and direct the research.

For the initial grant application, the Center and NSSGA needed to identify that there would be ample support from industry, DOT’s, and other invested organizations. The survey that NSSGA conducted received over 70 responses from interested groups, too many to include in the application!

The Center should know sometime in April if they will be awarded the planning grant. If they are successful, Virginia Tech and UIUC will begin work immediately on creating the outline and planning workshops for stakeholders.

If your organization is interested in learning more, please follow this link to add your name to the list.