Construction of cement concrete pavement

Advantages: i) Excellent riding surface, ii) Pleasing appearance

iii) More life time
Drawbacks: i) High initial investment, ii) Stage construction cannot
be possible, iii) Provision of joints creates construction difficulty, iv)
Need curing period 28 days minimum, v) Easy maintenance cannot be
possible like flexible pavement
Purposes for keeping sub-base course beneath cement concrete
pavement:

 To provide a strong supporting layer.

 To provide a capillary cut-off preventing the damages
due to mud pumping
 To reduce thickness requirement of CC slab & thus lower
the cost of construction
 To increase the service life of the CC pavement
 To expedite the construction work
 To control shrink & swell of sub grade
Construction of CC pavement
It is dealt with-
1. Construction of pavement slab-a) cement grouted layer
b) rolled concrete layer c) cement concrete layer
2. Construction of joints
There are two modes of construction of pavement slab
a) Alternate bay method b) Continuous bay method
• The later method is preferred mainly because of the
advantage that construction of half the pavement width
can be taken at a time while essential traffic could be
diverted on the other half of the road.
1. Construction of pavement
Materials specification
• Cement
 Ordinary Portland cement is generally used.
 In case of urgency rapid hardening cement may also be used to
reduce curing time.
• Coarse aggregate
 Maximum size of aggregate ≤ ¼ of the slab thickness.
 The gradation of coarse aggregate may range from 50 to 4.75 or 40
to 4.75 mm, the aggregate is collected in two size ranges, one
below and the other above 20mm size.
 The aggregate should be from harmful materials like iron, pyrites,
coal, mica, clay, alkali, organic impurities etc.
The desirable limits of important properties are:
Aggregate crushing value 30 % max

Aggregate impact value 30 % max

Los Angeles abrasion value 30 % max as per the ISI and 35%
max as per the IRC
Soundness, avg. loss in wt. after 10 cycles 12 % max in sodium sulphate
18 % max in magnesium sulphate

• Fine aggregate: Natural sand should be preferred as fine

aggregate through crushed stones may also be used.

Proportioning of concrete (Mix design): The concrete may be

proportioned so as to obtain a minimum modulus of rupture of 40
kg/cm2 on field specimens after 28days curing or to develop a
minimum compressive strength or 280 kg/cm2 at 28 days, or
higher value as desired in the design.
Construction Equipments
a) Concrete mixer: If batching by volume is required then the
separate measuring boxes are provided for different agg.
b) Batching device: It has a rated capacity of not less than 0.2 m3 of
mixed concrete. The mixer is equipped with a water measuring
device capable of accurate measurement of water required per
batch.
c) Wheel borrow: are used to transport concrete for short distances
from mixer.
d) Vibrating screed: comprises of a wooden or mild steel screed
with suitable handles driven by vibrating units mounted thereon.
e) Internal vibrators: used to ensure compaction of the cement
concrete along with the forms and also to avoid any tendency of
honey-combing at the edges of the slab.
f) Float: used for smoothing the concrete.
g) Straight edge: used to check the finished pavement surface in
longitudinal direction.
h) Belt: used for finishing the pavements surface before the concrete
hardens.
i) Fibre brush: used to make broom marks across the pavement
surface and to make it skid resistant.
j) Edging tool: used for rounding the transverse edges at expansion
joints and the longitudinal edges.
k) Other small tools: Spades, shovels, and pans water pots etc. are
also used.
Construction steps
• Preparation of sub-grade and sub-base- Requirements are:
 No soft spots are present in the sub-grade or sub-base
 The uniformly compacted sub-grade or sub-base extends at least 30 cm
on either side of the width to be concreted
 The sub-grade is properly drained
 The minimum modulus of sub-grade reaction obtained with a plate
bearing test is 5.54 kg/cm2.
 The sub-grade is prepared and checked at least two days in advance of
concreting.
• Placing of forms
 The steel or wooden forms are used for the purpose.
 The steel forms are of M.S. channel sections and their depth is equal to
the thickness of the pavements.
 Wooden forms have minimum base width of 10 cm for slab thickness of
20 cm and a minimum base width of 15 cm for slabs over 20 cm thick.
• Batching of material and mixing
 All batching of materials is done on the basis of one or more whole
bags of cement, the weight of one bag is taken as 50 kg or the unit
weight of cement is taken as 1440 kg/m2.
 The mixing of concrete is done in batch mixer which will ensure a
uniform distribution of the materials throughout the mass, so that
the mix is uniform in color and is homogenous.
• Transporting and placing of concrete
 The cement concrete is mixed in quantities required for immediate
use and is deposited on the soil sub-grade or sub-base to the
required depth and width of the pavement section.
 Care is taken to see that no segregation of materials results while
the concrete is being is transported from the mixer to its placement.
• Compaction and finishing
 Floating & straight edging:
 The concrete is further compacted by means of the longitudinal float.
 The longitudinal float is held in a position parallel to carriageway centre
line and passed gradually from one side of the pavement to the other.
 Belting, brooming & edging:
 Just before the concrete becomes hard, the surface is belted with a two-
ply canvas belt.
 The short strokes are applied transversely to the carriageway.
 After belting, the pavement is given a broom finish with fibre broom
brush.
 The broom is pulled gently over the surface of the pavement
transversely from edge to edge.
 Brooming is done perpendicular to the centre line of the pavement.
 Before the concrete develops initial set, the edges of the slab are
carefully finished with an edging tool.
• Curing of cement concrete
 Initial curing: The surface of the pavement is entirely covered with
burlap, cotton, or jute mats. Prior or being placed, the mats are
thoroughly saturated with water and are placed with the wet side
down to remain in intimate contact with the surface.
 Final curing: It is done by impervious membrane method.
• Opening of traffic: When the concrete attains the required
strength or after 28 days of curing the concrete road is opened to
the traffic.
2. Construction of joints
• Joints are provided in cement concrete roads for expansion,
contraction and warping of the slabs due to variation in the
temperature of slabs.
Requirements of a good joint
•Joint must move freely.
•Joint must not allow infiltration
of rain water.
•Joint must not allow ingress
of stone grits.
•Joint must not protrude out the
general level of the slab.
Depending upon the direction of placement, joints are
1. Transverse joints: a) Expansion joint b) Contraction joint
c) Warping joint d) Construction joint
2. Longitudinal joints

Fig: Isometric view of a rigid pavement

a) Expansion joints: are provided to allow for expansion of
the slab due to rise in slab temperature above the construction
temperature of the cement concrete. They also permit in
contraction of slabs.
• Expansion joints are provided at interval of 50-60m for
smooth interface if laid in winter and 90-120m if laid in
summer.
• For rough interface the spacing between expansion joints may
be 140m. The approximate gap width for this type of joints is
20-25 mm.
• Problem: due to forming a joint adds a weaker plane &
due to wheel load at such joint, weaker plane at corner &
edge.
• Measures: A system of reinforcement (dowel bars) can be
provided at suitable intervals projecting in the concrete in
longitudinal direction.
b) Contraction joints
 are provided to permit
the contraction of the slab.
 4.5m spacing
 Dowel bars may be
or may not be provided
 In reinforced slab of
thickness 20cm
spacing is 14m.
c)Warping joints: This joint is provided to relieve
stresses included due to warping. These are known as
hinged joints. These joints are rarely needed if the
suitably designed expansion and contraction joints are
provided to prevent cracking.
d) Construction joints: The compulsory break
provided in continuity of the slabs is due to the
close of day’s job and the commencement of the
same the next day with a construction joint.
Normally the construction joint is planned to
coincide with an expansion joint.
Longitudinal joints: are provided in cement concrete roads which
have width over 4.5m.
 To allow differential shrinkage on soil sub grade of clay
 To allow swelling due to rapid changes in sub grade moisture
 To prevent longitudinal cracking in the pavements
 To maintain the two slabs together at the same level, as it acts as a
hinge
Tie bars are provided to hold the adjacent slabs
together. But joint can be provided with tie bar & formed
by painting the joint faces with bitumen.
Arrangement of joints
The joints in transverse direction are
placed as follows:
a) Staggered arrangement
b) Uniform arrangement
c) Skew arrangement
Joint filler & sealer: Joints can allow the infiltration of water
& ingress of stone grits.
Affects:- a) The infiltration of water damages the soil sub grade
& give rise to the phenomenon known as mud pumping.
b) The ingress of stone grit joint width gets reduced & faults like
spalling of joint edges take place.
c) In extreme cases, the blowup takes place.
So, joint spaces are filled by compressible filler materials &
the top of the joints are sealed using a sealer.
Filler material property
 Compressibility
 Elasticity
 Durability
Joint Filler Materials: a) Soft wood without knot b) Fiber board
c) Cork or cork board with bitumen

Sealer material property

a) Adhesion to cement
concrete edges
b) Extensibility without
fracture
c) Resistance to ingress of grit
d) Durability
Joint sealer Materials
a) Bitumen
b) Bitumen & rubber mixture
c) Air blown bitumen
Sealing characteristics
Characteristics Requirements
Pour point 180oC max
Softening point 75oC min
Increase in softening 5oC max
point after heating to
20oC above pour point
for 3 hours
Penetration value 15 to 50

Extensibility 6mm max

Resistance to grit 20 max
penetration (on impact
test at 35oC in tenths of
mm)