In association with the CP Road Map Program
The National Concrete Consortium E-News (NCC E-News) is the newsletter of the Long-Term Plan for Concrete Pavement Research and Technology (CP Road Map), a national research plan developed and jointly implemented by the concrete pavement stakeholder community. To read the NCC E-News August 2016 topics, and all of the compete articles below, please click on the image above, click on the links in each paragraph below, or click here.
Moving Advancements into Practice (MAP) Briefs describe promising research and technologies that can be used now to enhance concrete paving practices. The August 2016 MAP Brief, “Real Time Smoothness Measurements for PCC Pavements” explains the current technology available to measure pavement smoothness immediately behind the paving machine. This allows the contractor to make necessary adjustments to the paver or corrections during finishing. To download the PDF of the AUGUST 2016 MAP BRIEF “Real Time Smoothness Measurements for PCC Pavements”, please click the image to the left, or click here.
NCC State Survey Summaries: Member states of the National Concrete Consortium (NCC) have the ability to poll other member states regarding specifications, materials, construction, research, or other issues related to concrete paving. This section highlights some of the questions posed and answers received through the NCC’s ListServ feature.
Ready Mix Plant Certification: The Nebraska Department of Roads polled the NCC group to inquire if states certify ready mix plants through the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) or if they have their own certification program. Twenty states responded to the question. To read the full article, please click here. The full results of this survey may be found here.
News from the Road highlights research around the country that is helping the concrete pavement community meet the research objectives outlined in the CP Road Map.
City of West Des Moines Seeks Improved Concrete Pavement Performance: Many northern states have experienced premature deterioration of concrete at the joints in concrete pavements. Previous research suggests this deterioration is a result of freeze-tha damage in the saturated concrete at the joint. Recommendations for limiting this type of deterioration include the use of a low water-to-cement (w/cm) ratio to reduce permeability, use of appropriate supplementary cementitious materials, and ensuring adequate air content behind the paver. To study the effectiveness of these recommendations, the City of West Des Moines, Iowa, implemented a research project that utilized a modified mix design for five paving projects in the fall of 2015. To read the entire article, please click here.
Surface Characteristics for New Concrete Pavement: The objective of this study was to evaluate how new concrete surfaces performed over time with respect to friction, noise, texture, faulting, and smoothness. Texture characteristics such as the width, wavelength, orientation, and direction, affect not only friction, but also the pavement’s ride quality, durability, and level of noise generated from tire-pavement interactions. Optimizing texture properties is an important priority for transportation agencies for both safety and economic reasons. Greater skid resistance means safer roads, few crashes and reduced loss of life and property. Significant reductions in tire-pavement noise could result in significant savings if sound barriers could be eliminated. For this study, MnDOT conducted a series of experiments at the MnROAD pavement research facility to evaluate the effects of various concrete pavement surface characteristics on pavement performance. To continue reading this article and for the test results, please click here.
Precast Concrete Pavement Bedding Support Systems: The use of precast concrete pavement (PCP) is growing in the U.S. due to the ability to repair concrete pavements with minimal downtime. Numerous panel systems are currently available; these plant-fabricated panels provide excellent concrete strength and durability. In order to take full advantage of the high quality of these precast systems, adequate bedding and support under the panels is essential. With this in mind, the FHWA has issued a Tech Brief describing the latest means and methods for precast concrete pavement bedding support systems. This technical brief explains that developing uniform support below a PCP system presents challenges. To continue reading, please click here.
To find out more about the CP Road Map, or to get involved, contact:
Steve Klocke, Program Manager, Snyder & Associates
E-mail: sklocke@snyder-associates.com | Phone: 515-964-2020
Dale Harrington, Program Manager, Snyder & Associates | E-mail: dharrington@snyder-associates.com
Sabrina Shields-Cook, Editor, CP Tech Center | E-mail: shieldsc@iastate.edu
Marcia Brink, Managing Editor, CP Tech Center | E-mail: mbrink@iastate.edu