International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 2, Issue 12, December 2012)

Use of Eco-Friendly Material like Fly Ash in Rigid Pavement

Construction & It’s Cost Benefit Analysis
Mr.Nagesh Tatoba Suryawanshi 1, Mr. Samitinjay S. Bansode2, Dr. Pravin D. Nemade3
1,
Asst. Professor in Civil engineering, S .B. Patil College of Engineering, Indapur, M.S.INDIA.
Email: nt.suryawanshi@gmail.com
2,
Asst. Professor in Civil engineering, S .B. Patil College of Engineering, Indapur, M.S.INDA.
Email: samitinjay2007@gmail.com
3
Principal, S.B. Patil College of Engineering, Indapur, M.S. INDIA.
Email:sbpcoeprincipal@gmail.com

Abstract—Fly ash is generated in huge quantities every day
in major thermal power stations of Maharashtra. The safe
disposal of this fly ash is the major socio-economic problem
before the authorities and is becoming a costly affair for them.
Conventional method of concrete road construction consumes
the natural resources like stone metal, sand, murum etc. and
hence causes ecological imbalance. The use of fly ash in
concrete road construction will save such resources. The
cement is also costly ingredient of concrete. A part of cement
and sand can be replaced by good quality fly ash to the extent
of 10-30 percent and 5-15 percent respectively. This would
results in lowering cost of resultant concrete without any loss
in strength. The use of fly ash will solve the disposal problem
and automatically reduce the construction cost. Hence this
paper is aimed to describe the use of fly ash in rigid pavement
construction. Because of the use of fly ash, rigid pavement
behaves as a semi rigid pavement causing substantial
reduction in cost of construction. If the fly ash is utilized on
large scale for road construction, the infrastructure
development can be completed at lesser cost and will also help
for environmental protection of our country. This paper also
deals with techno-economic analysis of fly ash reinforced
cement concrete over the flexible and rigid pavements.
Keywords— Rigid pavement, fly ash reinforced cement
concrete, Techno-economic analysis, and environmental
protection.
I. INTRODUCTION
Thermal power stations use powdered coal in boiler.
Large part of this coal is converted into very fine ash called
fly ash. The fly ash if allowed in the air with flue gases will
cause large-scale pollution and other hazards. The fly ash is
therefore, collected by electrical precipitators and is
dumped in a suitable area near powerhouse as a waste.
About 50 to 100 tones of fly ash is produced daily in a
normal thermal power station depending on its capacity,
quality of coal, load factor, etc. Day-by-day huge quantities
of fly ash are being accumulated, occupying large area.
Disposal of this huge quantity is therefore a problem. Fly
ash is very fine grey coloured powder. It is as fine as and
sometimes even finer than cement. It contains silica,
alumina, calcium oxide, and iron oxide. It contains a small
quantity of carbon. It is observed that the reactivity of fly
ash depends on its fineness. Fraction of fly ash, which
passes 75-micron sieve, is invariably reactive. These
constituents are 80% of total quantity. While using fly ash
as pozzolana the reactive 80% part should be used for the
replacement of cement.
II. TESTS CARRIED OUT ON FLY ASH COLLECTED FROM
EKALAHARE, NASIK (MAHARASHTRA) THERMAL POWER
PLANT
Following tests were carried out in Maharashtra Engineers
research Institute, Nasik as per IS: 1727-1967[4]
A.Chemical Analysis:
It is observed that all the fly ash samples contain SiO2 +
Al2O3 more than the specified minimum of 70%. All the
samples conform to the minimum requirement of 35% for
Si02 content. Loss on ignition in the case of all the samples
is much lower than specified limit of 12%. (IS: 1727 -1967)
All the samples are conform to specified values.
B. Lime Reactivity:
It is seen from the results that -75 micron and -
150micron fraction of invariably all the samples conform to
the lime reactivity specified values.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 2, Issue 12, December 2012)
C. Cement Reactivity:
In this case also -75 micron fraction of all samples both
wet and dry has to conform to the test. A sample has
conform to the test when it reaches 80% of the strength of
control mix with 20% replacement of cement by fly ash at
28 days. Further it is seen that strengths at 90days have
considerably improved and are very near to the strength of
controlled concrete. The strengths at 90 days are about 85
to 95% of the strength of controlled concrete indicating that
within next few days the strength would be equal.
III. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
A. Fineness:
Fineness is an important property of fly ash. Increase in
fineness increases the pozzolanacity of fly ash. It is seen
that -150 micron and -75 micron fractions of all the
samples conform the fineness. Fly ash as it is, it slightly
coarse fraction of even wet samples conform to the
fineness.
B. Lime Reactivity:
It is seen from the results that -75 micron and -
150micron fraction of invariably all the samples conform to
the lime reactivity specified values.
C. Cement Reactivity:
In this case also -75 micron fraction of all samples both
wet and dry has to conform to the test. A sample has
conform to the test when it reaches 80% of the strength of
control mix with 20% replacement of cement by fly ash at
28 days. Further it is seen that strengths at 90days have
considerably improved and are very near to the strength of
controlled concrete. The strengths at 90 days are about 85
to 95% of the strength of controlled concrete indicating that
within next few days the strength would be equal.
D Sieve Analysis:
It is seen that 80% of fly ash passes through 75-micron
sieve. As 75-micron fraction of fly ash is reactive it can be
said that 80% of fly ash can be used to replace cement.
E. Tests for Uniformity of Fly Ash:
The results show that the samples collected are quite
uniform in their qualities. All above the test carried on the
fly ash collected from Ekalahare thermal power plant,
Nasik and it is found that fly ash is fairly uniform in its
properties.
796
The fraction of fly ash passing through 75-micron sieve
is excellent as pozzolana. It conforms all the tests
prescribed for pozzolana viz. fineness, lime reactivity and
cement reactivity. 80% of fly ash passes through 75-micron
sieve. This means that 80% of fly ash is reactive. It is not
necessary to sieve the fly ash. 80% of fly ash can be treated
as replacing cement and balance 20% as replacing sand.
IV. UTILIZATION OF FLY ASH IN RIGID PAVEMENT
CONSTRUCTION
The problem of fly ash utilization is not confined to India
alone but is being experienced allover the world. However
this problem is particularly acute in countries like India,
where utilization of fly ash has not received much
attention. The degree of its utilization varies among
different countries. In India, the present rate of utilization is
only about 10 percent, which is below the world average of
about 16 percent. Hence in this paper it is aimed to describe
the use of fly ash in road works and its techno economic
benefits. [3]
A. Construction of Semi-Rigid/Rigid Pavements:
Fly ash can be utilized for constructing semi-rigid/rigid
pavements. Using lime-fly ash concrete, dry lean fly ash
concrete, lime fly ash bound macadam, etc. the pavements
constructed using these materials possess higher flexural
strength than flexible pavements and hence classified as
semi-rigid pavements Fly ash can be used for construction
of rigid pavements by using cement-fly ash concrete, high
performance concrete, roller compacted concrete etc.
B. Cement Fly ash Concrete Pavement:
In concrete roads and runways, a part of cement and sand
can be replaced by good quality fly ash to the extent of 10-
30 percent and 5-15 percent respectively. This would result
in lowering the cost of resultant concrete without any loss
of strength and with increased durability. A number of
studies have shown that equivalent, and in some cases
improved performance to that of reference plain cement
concrete is achievable, when cement up to 30percent is
replaced with fly ash. Water contents of fly ash concrete
are typically reduced by 5 to 10 percent. The fineness of fly
ash is responsible for giving better texture, low water
evaporation, impermeability character and elimination of
bleeding. The spherical particles carry a film of water and
acts as water entraining agent.
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 2, Issue 12, December 2012)
This action assists in the even distribution of mixed water Compressive strength of standard M35 concrete cube and
in plastic concrete, thereby increasing the workability of flexural strength of standard concrete beam had been
concrete. Fly ash by combining with calcium hydroxide worked out; it is shown in Table-1 and 2 respectively.
released from the hydration of Portland cement will reduce Concrete blending was done by replacing the cement in
the leaching effect of Portland cement as well as various percentages
permeability of concrete. Release of lesser amount of free and similarly by carrying out tests, compressive strength
lime makes fly ash concrete stronger and more resistant to and flexural strength of fly ash concrete had been worked
aggressive environment at later ages. The construction out. It is shown in table-3 and 4 respectively.
technique of cement fly ash concrete pavement is similar to
conventional cement concrete pavement. VI. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
For carrying out Economic analysis single lane width
C. Dry Lean Fly ash Concrete: road section is considered and life cycle costs of
The beneficial effects of addition of fly ash namely construction per km per 3.5m width. For the economic
reduced bleeding, lesser segregation and improved analysis flexible, rigid and rigid pavement with fly ash and
cohesiveness are more pronounced in the case of dry lean nominal reinforcement has been considered. The unit rates
fly ash concrete (DLFC), permitting its easier placement used to estimate construction costs of the pavement are
and finishing. Fly ash addition in DLFC is through partial derived from current CPWD, Delhi schedule of rates. [1,2]
replacement of sand with fly ash.
Research work at CRRI has shown that 100-175 percent A.Flexible Pavement:
increase in the compressive strength of DLFC can be i) Initial construction cost:
achieved in mixes with 50 percent replacements of sand For the medium traffic (2% CBR value) pavement
with fly ash. DLFC would be particularly useful as base / thickness considered is as under
sub base course in heavy rainfall areas or in black cotton Asphaltic concrete (AC) = 40 mm
soil areas. Due to its higher strength, DLFC results in Dense bituminous macadam (DBM) = 100mm
reduction of total pavement thickness as compared to Crushed Aggregate Base (CAB) = 250mm.
pavements constructed using conventional base course of Sub base (SB) = 590mm
WBM layer. So it is especially suitable for those areas Initial Construction Cost is worked out as: Rs. 24,74,056.6
where good quality hard stones for such base courses have / -(Table-5)
to be brought from a long distance.
ii) Maintenance Cost:
Maintenance cost of flexible pavement for a life span of
V. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY 50years has been considered and it is as under
The control mix of M35 grade is designed by using After 10,20,30 and 40
Asphaltic concrete (40mm) Overlay
Indian Standard Method and the proportion is found as 1: Years
1.02: 2.02 with water-cement ratio 0.35. Dense bituminous Macadam
After 20 and 40 Years
(100mm)
A. Concrete Blending and Test Results: Maintenance Cost is worked out as:
Production of quality concrete requires meticulous care Rs. 25,41,000 / -(Table-6)
and checking to be exercised at every stage of the Life cycle Cost = Initial Construction cost + Maintenance
manufacture of concrete. It is interesting to note that the cost = 24,74,056 + 25,41,000
ingredients of good concrete and bad concrete are the same. = Rs 50,15,056 / -
If the proper care is not exercised, and proper rules are not
observed, the result and concrete is going to be of bad B Rigid Pavement:
quality. With the same material if intense care is taken to i) Initial construction Cost:
exercise control at every stage, it will resulting good For the medium traffic (2% CBR value) pavement
concrete. As per the concrete mix design, concrete cube thickness considered is as under
and beams were cast Testing was carried out after 28 days Paving quality concrete
200mm
curing period. (PQC)*
Dry lean concrete (D LC) 100mm
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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 2, Issue 12, December 2012)
Drainage layer (DL) 150mm Using this replacing percentage in experimental work it
Initial construction cost is worked out to be: has been found that after 28 days the results on ordinary
Rs. 26,00304/- (Table-7)\ concrete and fly ash concrete are nearly same. It is also
PQC* - PQC with 20% replacement of cement with fly ash observed that fly ash mixed simply reinforced cement
concrete pavement proves economical over convention
ii) Maintenance cost: flexible pavements and rigid pavements. For medium
Maintenance cost of rigid pavement for a life span of 50 traffic and 2% CBR, it is observed that initial construction
years has been considered is as under cost of flexible pavement and rigid pavement with fly ash
Replace seals After 7, 14, 28 and 35 Years and reinforcement is nearly same; it has also been
concluded that construction of rigid pavement with fly ash
Texture Surface After 20 Years saves rupees one lakh per km and proves economical over
Overlay (Ac 40mm) After 40 Years rigid pavements. It has been concluded that adoption of fly
Maintenance cost is worked out to be: ash in road construction works will result in the less
Rs. 6,33,5001/-(Table-8) depletion of naturally available stone metal, gravel, sand
Life cycle cost = Initial construction cost + Maintenance and soil. Use of fly ash in rigid pavement construction will
cost save cement, which is the costliest ingredient will lead to
= 2600304 + 633500 reduction in construction cost. It will also help to solve the
= Rs 32,33,804 / - problem of safe disposal of the fly ash. However to achieve
this objective, proper characterization of fly ash is
C. Rigid Pavement with Fly Ash and Reinforcement: necessary. With adequate knowledge on performance of fly
i Initial Construction cost: ash based road pavements, a huge demand can be expected
Initial construction cost is worked out to be: Rs 24,99,504 / from the road sector to use fly ash for construction
- (Table-9) purposes.

REFERENCES:
VII. CONCLUDING REMARKS 1.Guru vittal u. k., scientist satander kumar scientist,
Fly ash is the fine, waste product produced in thermal deepchandra, head sr div. dr. p. k. sikadar, Director Central
power plants. The safe disposal is the major problem for fly Road Research Institute New Delhi.”Utilization of fly ash
ash. The disposal problem is too hazardous that in road construction”. CE and CR April 99 Pp 60-63.
neighboring climate is polluted by suspended fly ash in air 2.Rigid Pavement Division, Maharashtra Engineer’s
and causes nullification of plants. Human beings also have Research Institute Nashik “Study of fly ash samples from
to face bronchial and lungs diseases. Due o this problem Eklahre Thermal Power Station”.
and storage difficulties, it is available abundantly in the 3.Seehra s. s. and Satander kumar,” Technoeconomic
thermal power plants. As the fly ash increases the aspects of rigid pavements” International seminar on Civil
pozzollanic properties of cement concrete, it can be used Engineering Practices in 21st century Roorkey, India 1996.
for replacing the cement in various percentage. Now a days
fly ash is also used as ingredient in cement production. It
has been found that fly ash cement concrete does not gain
appreciable strength in the initial 7-14 days. But in 28 days
cement constituents and pozzolanic reaction results in rapid
hardening properties. The study of graphs of compressive
strength v/s percentage replacement and flextural strength
v/s percentage replacement shows that optimum results are
obtained at 25 percent replacement of cement by fly ash.

798
 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 2, Issue 12, December 2012)
TABLE1
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF STANDARD M35 TABLE 4
(CONTROL MIX) CONCRETE FLEXTURAL STRENGTH OF FLY ASH CEMENT
CONCRETE BEAM
Cube No. Compressive strength After 28 days (N/mm2)
1 53.33 Percentage Cube Load at Average
2 57.55 51.84 Replacement No. failure (tone) compressive
3 50.66 strength
After28
days
TABLE 2 (N/mm2)
FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF STANDARD M 35 C1 113
(CONTROL MIX) CONCRETE BEAM: 15% C2 112 111.66 49.62
C3 110
C4 106
Beam Modulus of rupture, After 20% C5 109 107 47.35
No. 28 days (kg/ cm2) C6 107
1 48.74 C7 98
2 45.62 47.00 25% C8 99 99.66 44.29
3 46.66 C9 102
CIO 92
30% C11 89 90.30 40.14
TABLE 3 CI2 90
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF FLY ASH CEMENT C13 72
CONCRETE CUBE 35% C14 74 74 32.88
Cube Load at Average CI5 76
No. failure (tone) compressive
strength
Percentage After28 TABLE 5: INITIAL CONSTRUCTION COST OF FLEXIBLE
Replacement days PAVEMENT
(N/mm2)
C1 113 Construction cost
Sr. Quantity Rates
15% C2 112 111.66 49.62 Material (Rs.)
No. m3 Rs/m3
C3 110
C4 106 1 AC 2328.90 326046/-
20% C5 109 107 47.35 140
C6 107 2 DBM 1633.00 571550/-
C7 98 350
25% C8 99 99.66 44.29 3 CAB 707.88 619395/-
C9 102 875
CIO 92 4 SB 463.4 7 957065.5/-
30% C11 89 90.30 40.14 2065
CI2 90
C13 72
35% C14 74 74 32.88
CI5 76

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 2, Issue 12, December 2012)
TABLE 6
MAINTENANCE COST OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT

Sr. Quantity Rates, Maintenance

A. Material
No. m2 Rs m2 cost (Rs.)
AC (40mm)
1 3500 x 4 93 13,02,000/-
overlay
DBM
2 3500 x 2 177 12,39,000/-
(100mm)

TABLE 7
INITIAL CONSTRUCTION COST OF RIGID
PAVEMENT FIGURE A. AVERAGE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
Sr. Quantity Rates Rs Constructio V/S PERCENTAGE REPLACEMENT OF CEMENT
Material
No. (m3) (m3) n cost (Rs.) WITH FLY ASH
1 PQC 700 2614.00 18,29,800
2 DLC 350 1645.00 5,75,750
3 DL 525 370.96 1,94,754
50
TABLE 8
Modulus of rupture after 28days.Kg/cm2

MAINTENANCE COST OF RIGID PAVEMENT 40

Quantity Rates Maintenanc

Sr. No Material
m2 Rs/m2 e cost (Rs.) 30

Replace Series1
1 3500 x 4 18 252000
seals 20

Texture
2 3500 x 1 16 56000 10
surface
Overlay 0
3 (AC 3500 x 1 93 325500 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

400mm) Percentage replacement of cement with fly ash

(b)

FIGURE B MODULUS OF RUPTURE V/S

TABLE 9 PERCENTAGE REPLACEMENT OF CEMENT WITH
INITIAL CONSTRUCTION COST OF RIGID FLY ASH.
PAVEMENT WITH FLY ASH AND REINFORCEMENT

Constructi
Sr. Quantity
Material Rates Rs/m3 on cost
No. m3
(Rs.)

1 PQC* 700 2653.00 1857100

2 DLC* 350 1279.00 447650

3 DL 525 370.96 194754

800