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Today's concrete pavements are being built smoother than ever before,
providing an excellent riding surface while retaining good surface texture and
skid resistance. And the advent of stringless paving and stringless trimming are
making construction easier, thanks to laser or optical guidance systems. Well-
graded concrete mixes have shown excellent properties, both in the fresh state,
which helps constructability, and in the hardened state, which enhances
durability and performance.

But, even with all the technological advances, understanding the basics
remains critical. Steve Waalkes, managing director of technical services for the
American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) spoke with us and provided
a primer for basic fixed-form concrete pavement construction--as in driveways,
sidewalks, and city streets.




Quality concrete pavement starts with adequate preparation of the existing soil
surface. The soil should be properly compacted and graded to the correct
elevation for the project. Depending on various factors, you might need to
place a layer of base material on top of the subgrade.

"The subgrade soil type does affect your pavement design," says Waalkes. "It
also determines whether or not you are going to put a base material down to
help cushion the slab. Certain clays are very susceptible to moisture changes,
expanding when wet, and shrinking when they dry out. If you have a layer of
material in between your pavement and your clay subgrade it will help minimize
that effect."

Any type of graded stone can be added as base material, like rounded river
gravel, quarried stone, crushed stone, or any material that can achieve the
proper density with as few voids as possible when compacted. Often this
material consists of whatever is available locally. It doesn't have to be especially
dense; it just needs to be stable. "Most specs require approximately 95% of the
material's maximum density at a given water content," says Waalkes. "When all is
said and done, this material must have enough stability to support the
construction traffic that will be driven on it before the pavement is completed. If
that's the case, it will also be fine when it's underneath the concrete."
Some contractors rework soft spots in the subgrade material, mixing quicklime
(hydrated lime) or fly ash into the material to help dry it out or bind it together.
These two substances not only dry up soft and muddy spots but also work as a
binder similar to cement or asphalt, stabilizing the soil.

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Concrete for pavements should be designed to reach 4000 psi compressive

strength at 28 days. But an even more important characteristic of quality
concrete is durability. It must stand up over time, through all kinds of traffic, wet
and dry weather, and freeze/thaw cycles, if these are a factor. Things that
contribute to durability include quality aggregates, a well-graded mix (for low
permeability) adequate strength, and proper air-entrainment (well-dispersed
and typically around 6%).

Air entrainment protects the concrete when freezing occurs. These tiny bubbles
in the concrete mix serve as air valves when freezing takes place. Air
entrainment in nonfreeze areas, such as the Florida Keys, also makes the
concrete more workable. "Entrained air acts like little ball bearings when the
concrete is being worked fresh, before it's hardened," says Waalkes. "Concrete
will naturally contain air bubbles, but if it is controlled, it can make the work
easier, as well as counteract freeze/thaw problems. It's important to remember
that concrete contains water throughout its life. The entrained air bubbles
themselves do not fill with water. The water is elsewhere in the concrete's
microstructure. During freezing, the air bubbles are an important buffer because
ice has 9% more volume than water. As the water expands, air bubbles serve as
miniature 'pressure valves' in the concrete. If they are not present, the concrete
will easily break apart."

Slump measures the workability and fluidity of the concrete. A good workable
pavement mix for fixed-form construction will have a slump of 4 to 5 inches. If
the slump of a batch of concrete is too low, adding water is not a solution. "The
issue that some engineers, inspectors, or owners have is that they think the real
high-slump mixtures were achieved with extra water that was added, but that's
not necessarily the case. You don't have to add water. Chemicals can be
added to make the mixture more workable without affecting the strength of the
concrete or causing all the negative aspects that come about as a result of
adding water."

If the slump is too low, and the mixture is too stiff, Waalkes advises adding a
water-reducing admixture, which will increase the slump without using water.
Adding water would increase the water-cement ratio, which should be 0.45 or
lower. "That figure is a good target to aim for. You don't want to be much higher
than that," says Waalkes. Higher water-cement ratios reduce the concrete's
durability.







The remaining steps in fixed form pavement construction include placement,

finishing, and curing. Although most highway pavements today are placed with
a slipform paving machine, the most common type of concrete pavement
construction remains fixed-form work, which can be as simple as setting up 2x4s
as side forms. Finishing the concrete surface in this type of setup can be equally
simple, screeding with a 2x4 or a vibrating screed. The main way to spread out
concrete is directly from the truck chute, keeping a uniform level in front of the
straightedge or vibrating screed.

After the initial strike off, and a waiting period for the bleed water to rise, the
pavement surface should be textured. Texturing is typically accomplished in one
of three ways: 1) using moistened or wet burlap dragged across the surface, 2)
using artificial turf turned upside down and drug across the surface, or 3) using a
broom to texture the surface. A high-traction texture on concrete pavement
surface is important to avoid a slick surface. "The point here is to create some
friction but keep it smooth enough so that it's not actually rough, noisy, or
uneven--smooth, but not glassy," says Waalkes.

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After texturing, comes curing. Waalkes recommends, and most specifications

require, that a layer of wax-based, membrane-forming curing compound be
sprayed on the surface. This is liquid, typically pigmented white for easy visibility.
Once it dries, the wax-based membrane seals in the water so that the concrete
near the surface will not dry out but have plenty of water to complete its
hydration. If the surface of the slab is not adequately cured, the water will
evaporate before it has a chance to fully react with the cement, resulting in a
lower-strength concrete near the surface where most of the wear takes place.

"Curing is critical to getting durable concrete," says Waalkes. "Typically it simply

involves spraying that compound on and sealing in all the water, and then you
are good to go. This is a key point in the work." But on some projects, such as a
driveway pour, the contractor might choose to cure using a sprayer, fogger, or
sprinkler once the concrete has started to gain a little bit of strength.

This is a good way to cure, but the advantage of the curing compound is that it
may be sprayed on as soon as the texturing of the concrete has been
completed. "I personally think the curing compound is easier to use, quicker,
and more reliable. Unfortunately it is not used as much for smaller jobs such as
sidewalks. I wish it was. It would help us avoid a lot of problems," says Waalkes.

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Properly forming or cutting joints into the concrete slabs is one of the final steps
on a project. The key is that the spacing between the joints is typically around 24
times the thickness of the slab, up to a maximum of 15 feet. So, on a driveway
with a 5-inch slab, the maximum spacing between joints would be 5x24--120
inches or 10 feet.

The purpose of the joints is to control the natural cracking that occurs in the
concrete due to shrinkage. "If joints were not used," says Waalkes, "the cracks
would just occur randomly, and we've found that typically they happen at
about 24 times the concrete's thickness. For this reason it's good to put a joint at
that location. The ultimate purpose of a joint is so that the concrete that you've
poured will have no uncontrolled cracks."

As soon as possible after placement, joints should be sawed into the slab to a
depth of one-fourth to one-third the slab thickness. Joints should be just deep
enough so that when the concrete starts to shrink it will want to crack there
where the concrete is thinner.

  

Waalkes recommends that pavement generally be opened up to traffic in three

to seven days. "Some people think that you have to let the pavement set up for
a whole month before you can walk or drive on it," says Waalkes. "The truth is,
concrete can be opened up as soon as it has strength to withstand whatever is
going to be driving on it. The traffic speed on the concrete after the pour
depends on many factors, including temperature (the reaction occurs quicker
in hot temperatures), mix design, and cement type."

Whatever the requirements for the project, a concrete mix can be designed
and proportioned to these specifications so the mix will gain strength at the right
time. "If you want to drive on your concrete in four hours, there's a mix that can
do that," says Waalkes. "There is an infinite number of possibilities. Just tell the
concrete producer in your area what your needs are and you should be able to
get that mix."

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