4

Design of Concrete Pavements

4.1 Introduction

Concrete pavements are constructed in a variety of forms by several different

construction methods. They may be reinforced or unreinforced; if reinforced the
steel may take the form of individual bars or welded mesh. The slabs may contain
several different types of joint or they may be unjointed or continuous. Construc-
tion may be carried out by the conventional side-form process using a concreting
train with many differing units, or one of several forms of slip-form paver may be
employed operating with a minimum of additional equipment.
All these forms of concrete pavement are composed of a pavement slab that is
the major load-spreading component. If reinforcement is included it is placed nearer
to the upper face of the slab, the minimum amount of cover depending upon slab
thickness. If joints are incorporated in the slab then the transverse joints placed
across the slab at right angles to the traffic flow may be either expansion, contrac-
tion or warping joints. Longitudinal joints are also normally used where the width
of the slab exceeds a single traffic lane.
The pavement slab is usually supported by a sub-base frequently of granular or
cement-bound material. This element of the pavement structure assists in distribut-
ing the wheel load to the subgrade, frequently ensures an adequate depth of material
to prevent frost penetration and provides a working base for construction plant.
Between the pavement slab and the sub-base is a separation membrane, usually
of thermoplastic sheeting. Its function is to reduce the restraint of the sub-base upon
slab movement and also to prevent moisture movement between the slab and the
sub-base during the early life of the pavement.

4.2 Pavement Concrete

Requirements for the concrete· for pavements for roads constructed in the United
Kingdom for the Department of Transport are contained in their Specification for
Road and Bridge Works. 1
The cement used for pavements must be ordinary Portland cement or Portland
blast-furnace cement, rapid-hardening cements being excluded to prevent them

R. J. Salter, Highway Design and Construction

© R.J. Salter 1988
106 HIGHWAY DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

being used to achieve the required 28-day strength with minimum cement content.
A minimum cement content is given as 280 kg/m 3 of concrete.
Maximum aggregate size is 40 mm and it is specified as naturally occurring
material that complies with BS 882 2 or crushed air-cooled blast-furnace slag with a
bulk density not less than 1100 kg/m 2 and complying with BS 1047, 3 the grading
to comply with table 1 of this British Standard. The flakiness index of the coarse
aggregate must not exceed 35 (see section 8.11.3), while fine aggregate containing
more than 25 per cent calcium carbonate by mass in either the fraction retained or
passing a 600 J.Lil1 BS sieve cannot be used in the top 50 mm of the slab. If the coarse
aggregate is limestone it may be used in the top 50 mm of the pavement provided
the Accelerated Wear Test result is less than 53. A choice of aggregate size is allowed
provided the workability of the concrete is suitable for the plant being used and
provided suitable surface regularity is obtained. Large aggregates make joint forming
and the insertion of dowel bars difficult and should not be used in two-layer
construction when the top layer is only 50 mm thick.
Concrete strength is specified by the use of the Indirect Tensile Strength Test of
BS 1881. 4 This change from the previously specified cube-crushing test has been
made because the Indirect Tensile Strength Test indicates more readily the influence
of aggregates on tensile strength, tensile cracking being a frequent mode of failure
of concrete pavement slabs. The required quality of concrete is achieved when the
average vahw of any four consecutive results of tests at the age of 28 days is not less
than 2.3 N/mm 2 • This means that not more than 1 per cent of all test results that
may be expected from an infinite population with a standard deviation of0.4 N/m 2
will fall below a characteristic strength of 1.8 N/mm 2 •
Workability of concrete is specified by the Compacting Factor Test 4 when the
concrete is being laid by machine and by the Slump Test4 if hand laying is to take
place using concrete with any average slump of 40 mm or greater. The workability
should be such that full compaction is achieved by the plant used, without excessive
flow of the concrete.

4.3 Air-entrained Concrete

Air-entrained agents have found considerable application in concrete road construc-

tion, where their use has been found substantially to reduce frost damage and also
the destructive action of de-icing salts on the concrete carriageway. While air
entrainment has been extensively used for many years abroad, particularly in the
United States, it is only recently that it has become obligatory to use air-entrained
concrete for the upper surface layer (50 mm) of the concrete roads in the United
Kingdom:
In many regions where frost damage is not a problem, air entrainment is used
because of the improvement of workability and the reduction in segregation,
bleeding and shrinkage of concrete that are possible.
The use of air-entrainment produces discrete cavities in the cement paste and
these are not ftlled with water even in saturated concrete. During the initial stages
of freezing these cavities are available to relieve the hydraulic pressure which
develops in the capillaries of the concrete and as the freezing process develops the
growth of microscopic bodies of ice is limited.