Basalt has a long history in construction and architecture as pavers and dimension stone. Basalt was used as stadium seating and street pavers throughout the Roman Empire. Today, basalt is commonly used as crushed aggregate in construction projects. Crushed basalt is used for road base, concrete aggregate, asphalt pavement aggregate, railroad ballast, filter stone in drain fields. But, basalt is also cut into dimension stone. In thin slabs it is used for building veneers, flooring, etc. and in its large columnar chunks it is used to create large durable stone objects, monuments, and even art. Thicker cut applications include basalt pavers.