REHABILITATION AND MAINTENANCE OF ROAD PAVEMENTS USING HIGH EARLY STRENGTH CONCRETE.

Abstract

The vast amount of civil infrastructure in the United States includes an extensive stretch of road networks. From an economic point of view it is more cost effective to maintain the already existing pavements rather than building new ones. A large proportion of the traffic delays on these road networks are caused by road closures and closures of individual lanes for pavement maintenance purposes. The application of early strength concrete in pavement maintenance measures will lead to a substantial reduction in the user costs involved with the road closures caused by such maintenance. These costs involve both the actual costs of the delays in terms of time and fuel consumption, but also, more importantly, the social and economic costs associated with the safety hazards resulting from these closures. This research is aimed at selecting two four-hour mix designs out of a total of five mix designs selected in a report made by Construction Technology Laboratories Inc. (CTL), and the Maryland State Highway Administration (MSHA), based on concrete compressive strength and freezing-thawing durability. The targeted concrete strength aimed at is a minimum of 2,000 psi (14 MPa) at four hours.

The report contains a literature review, background information and detailed description of test procedures, results analysis and selection criteria. Recommendations are made for concrete mix selection for road patching and rehabilitation.