RIGID PAVEMENT

RIGID PAVEMENT
- normally constructed of Portland cement concrete
and may or may not have a base course between the sub
grade and the concrete surface.
- normally consist of two layers only, pavement slab
and sub-base course.
- structure comprising of a layer of cement concrete
(either reinforced or unreinforced) which may be supported
by a sub base between the concrete and the sub grade.
- have some flexural strength that permits them to
sustain a beamlike action across minor irregularities in the
underlying material.
 Properly designed and constructed rigid
pavements have long service lives and usually are less
expensive to maintain than flexible pavements.

Rigid pavements must be designed to endure

frequently repeated traffic loadings. The typical
designed service life of a rigid pavement is between 30
and 40 years, lasting about twice as long as a flexible
pavement.
MATERIALS USED IN RIGID PAVEMENTS

The Portland cement concrete commonly used for

rigid pavements consist of
- Portland cement
- coarse aggregate
- fine aggregate
- water
- steel rod
 Portland cement
- manufactured by crushing and pulverizing a carefully prepared
mix of limestone, marl and clay shale and by burning the mixture
at a high temperature (about 2800˚F) to form a clinker.
 Coarse Aggregate
- inert materials that do not react with cement and usually are
comprised of crushed gravel, store or blast furnace slag.
 Fine Aggregate
- sand is mainly used as a fine aggregate in PCC
 Water
- the main water requirement stipulated is that the water used is
also should be suitable for drinking.
 Reinforcing Steel
- may be used in concrete pavements to reduce the amount of
cracking that occurs, as a load transfer mechanism at joints
(dowel bars), or as a means of tying two slabs together (tie
bars).
 CONCRETE PAVEMENT
CHARACTERISTICS AND
BEHAVIOUR
 The behaviour of concrete pavement that is exposed
to loading and environmental effect entirely depends
upon the quality of concrete, the underlying sub grade
and the base course.
Concrete is strong in resisting compression load
acting on it, but considerably weak in resisting tensile
stresses. The reaction and movement of the sub grade
supporting the slab, affects the stability of the concrete
pavement.
Concrete like other materials also expand and
contract due to temperature changes. It expands when
wet and contracts when dried.
 Deterioration
- due to stress brought about by load, moisture and
temperature.
 Faulting
- for faulting to occur, there must be free water on top
of the base course and pavement deflection across the joint
due to heavy axle loads. It is result of pumping tremendous
force or load that develop under pavement.
CAUSES OF FAULTING ARE:
- loss of slab support
- erosion of sub base
Distress of concrete is generally grouped into the following
categories:
1. Distortion
- vertical displacement of concrete slab at the joints or
cracks
- due to failure or weakness of concrete joints
2. Cracking
- can take many forms in concrete pavement that could
be the result from applied load, temperature or moisture
changes.
3. Disintegration
- appears in the form of durability cracking, scaling or
spalling, as the result of mix design or construction related
problems like.