Solutions - Concrete Paving
Your road type depends on traffic patterns, regional preference, and availability of materials. Our solutions can address all types of rigid pavement needs. Connect with our team to determine the best solution for you.
Highways
A highway pavement structure consists of a concrete pavement surface over a base/sub-base layer placed above the natural or stabilized soil or sub-grade. In concrete pavements, wheel loads are distributed over a wide area of a sub-grade due to the concrete layer’s rigidity and high modulus of elasticity. While the current pavement design method involves determining the appropriate concrete thickness to distribute all types of imposed stresses (i.e. wheel load stresses) to a safe value on the sub-grade so that its bearing capacity is not exceeded, we promote a more holistic approach by optimizing each pavement layer to provide the performance needed to meet both structural and environmental conditions.
Highway concrete pavements are mainly known to provide a smooth surface, which leads to skid prevention and provides ride comfort, and for their long life and low maintenance cost. The most common types of rigid pavements are jointed concrete pavement (JCP) and continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP). JCP uses contraction joints for the prevention of random crack development and dowel bars or aggregate interlocks are normally used for load transfer across joints. CRCP offers the benefit of eliminating joint distresses by incorporating continuous longitudinal reinforcement with no transverse expansions or contraction joints except at bridges or pavement transitions. Other types of concrete pavements include jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP) and pre-stressed and post-stressed concrete pavement (PCP).
Industrial Paving
Among the most intense pavement applications, industrial pavements often face unusually heavy, dynamic, and even impact loads. Industrial pavement sections often consist of multiple thick material layers, when optimized, working together to distribute applied loads more evenly, diffusing internal stresses, in the most efficient manner.
Whether seaport, manufacturing facility, retail distribution center, or other industrial pavements are often designed for an unusually long performance life to avoid loss of revenue during the downtime repairs require.
The proven long-term performance of concrete pavements offers engineers choices. Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) placed by conventional means, provides simple, time-tested performance. Roller compacted concrete pavement (RCC), a stiff, optimized concrete mixture placed with high-density screed, asphalt-type paving machines offers fast placement with its roots in heavy industrial projects for the logging industry, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and countless manufacturing and intermodal facilities. Whether selecting these or other concrete pavement types, the underlying layers of cement treated base (CTB) and cement stabilized sub-grade (CSS) soils working together, can play critical roles in maximizing performance and cost.
Roller-Compacted Concrete
Roller-compacted concrete (RCC), a durable paving material that carries heavy loads, is now developing as a fast, economical construction method for dams, off-highway pavement projects, heavy-duty parking and storage areas, and as a base for conventional pavement. RCC is a stiff, zero-slump concrete mixture with the consistency of damp gravel comprised of local aggregates or crushed recycled concrete, Portland cement, and water. The mixture is placed and roller compacted with the same commonly available equipment used for asphalt pavement construction.
Typically, RCC is constructed without joints. It needs neither forms nor finishing, nor does it contain dowels or steel reinforcing.
Because of its low water-cement ratio, RCC typically has high strengths similar to, or even greater than, conventional concrete. RCC’s high-strength properties combined with ease and high rate of production often make RCC more economical than a flexible pavement. Additionally, more than 20 years of exposure to logging roads in cold climates have demonstrated that RCC has adequate resistance to freezing and thawing.
These characteristics make roller-compacted concrete simple, fast, and economical.