Concrete pavement restoration (CPR) together with concrete pavement preservation (CPP) is a group of various techniques used to maintain concrete roadways.
CPP and CPR techniques include slab stabilization, full- and partial-depth repair, dowel bar retrofit, cross stitching longitudinal cracks or joints, diamond grinding and joint and crack resealing. CPP and CPR methods, developed over the last 40 years, are used in lieu of asphalt overlays and bituminous patches to repair roads when longer lasting solutions are desired. When installing pavers over top of an existing asphalt of concrete pad, there are three installation options: sand set, bituminous set, and mortar set. [1] Due to rising oil prices, these methods are often less expensive than an asphalt overlay and last three times longer in addition to providing a greener, more sustainable solution. [2] [3] [4]
A recent study was conducted that shows that diamond grinding is an effective means of extending the service life of concrete by imparting a smooth pavement surface with desirable surface texture. The process can also be used to address faulting at joints or cracks, roughness, polished concrete surfaces exhibiting inadequate macrotexture, wheel path rutting, unacceptable noise levels, permanent upward slab warping and inadequate transverse slopes. The California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS), a pioneer in the use of diamond grinding to preserve their concrete roadways, has determined that the average age of a diamond ground surface in California is between 16 and 17 years, and a pavement can be diamond ground up to three times. [5] [6]
Dowel bar retrofit (DBR) is a process that re-establishes load transfer capability on joints and cracks by installing epoxy-coated, round steel dowels into existing concrete pavement across transverse joints and/or cracks. Slots are cut using diamond-tipped saw blades; the existing concrete is removed and the dowels are placed in the slots across the joints or cracks. The slots are then backfilled with a non-shrink grout and the pavement is diamond ground to restore smoothness. The diamond grinding removes excess grout and any displacement of panels. The entire road is often diamond ground to remove bumps or dips and provide a safe, quiet riding surface. In Wisconsin, researchers found that the overall accident rate for diamond ground surfaces was only 60 percent of the rate for the non-ground surfaces. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
Highway engineering is an engineering discipline branching from civil engineering that involves the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of roads, bridges, and tunnels to ensure safe and effective transportation of people and goods. Highway engineering became prominent towards the latter half of the 20th century after World War II. Standards of highway engineering are continuously being improved. Highway engineers must take into account future traffic flows, design of highway intersections/interchanges, geometric alignment and design, highway pavement materials and design, structural design of pavement thickness, and pavement maintenance.
Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder, polymeric, or a combination of both. Metal strips often divide sections, or changes in color or material in a pattern. Additional chips may be sprinkled atop the mix before it sets. After it is cured it is ground and polished smooth or otherwise finished to produce a uniformly textured surface. "Terrazzo" is also often used to describe any pattern similar to the original terrazzo floors.
A road surface (English), or pavement (American), is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, macadam, hoggin, cobblestone and granite setts were extensively used, but these have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete laid on a compacted base course. Asphalt mixtures have been used in pavement construction since the beginning of the 20th century and are of two types: metalled (hard-surfaced) and unmetalled roads. Metalled roadways are made to sustain vehicular load and so are usually made on frequently used roads. Unmetalled roads, also known as gravel roads, are rough and can sustain less weight. Road surfaces are frequently marked to guide traffic.
Asphalt concrete is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parking lots, airports, and the core of embankment dams. Asphalt mixtures have been used in pavement construction since the beginning of the twentieth century. It consists of mineral aggregate bound together with bitumen, laid in layers, and compacted. The process was refined and enhanced by Belgian-American inventor Edward De Smedt.
Grout is a dense fluid that hardens to fill gaps or used as reinforcement in existing structures. Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement, and sand, and is employed in pressure grouting, embedding rebar in masonry walls, connecting sections of precast concrete, filling voids, and sealing joints such as those between tiles. Common uses for grout in the household include filling in tiles of shower floors and kitchen tiles. It is often color tinted when it has to be kept visible and sometimes includes fine gravel when being used to fill large spaces. Unlike other structural pastes such as plaster or joint compound, correctly mixed and applied grout forms a water-resistant seal.
Permeable paving surfaces are made of either a porous material that enables stormwater to flow through it or nonporous blocks spaced so that water can flow between the gaps. Permeable paving can also include a variety of surfacing techniques for roads, parking lots, and pedestrian walkways. Permeable pavement surfaces may be composed of; pervious concrete, porous asphalt, paving stones, or interlocking pavers. Unlike traditional impervious paving materials such as concrete and asphalt, permeable paving systems allow stormwater to percolate and infiltrate through the pavement and into the aggregate layers and/or soil below. In addition to reducing surface runoff, permeable paving systems can trap suspended solids, thereby filtering pollutants from stormwater.
A pothole is a depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affected area. Water first weakens the underlying soil; traffic then fatigues and breaks the poorly supported asphalt surface in the affected area. Continued traffic action ejects both asphalt and the underlying soil material to create a hole in the pavement.
This page is a list of construction topics.
A dowel bar retrofit (DBR) is a method of reinforcing cracks in highway pavement by inserting steel dowel bars in slots cut across the cracks. It is a technique which several U.S. states' departments of transportation have successfully used in repairs to address faulting in older jointed plain concrete pavements. The typical approach is to saw cut and jackhammer out the slots for the dowels. Following dowel placement the slots are then typically backfilled with a non-shrink concrete mixture, and the pavement is diamond-ground to restore smoothness.
Chipseal is a pavement surface treatment that combines one or more layer(s) of asphalt with one or more layer(s) of fine aggregate. In the United States, chipseals are typically used on rural roads carrying lower traffic volumes, and the process is often referred to as asphaltic surface treatment. This type of surface has a variety of other names including tar-seal or tarseal, tar and chip, sprayed seal or surface dressing.
Hydrodemolition is a concrete removal technique which utilizes high-pressure water, often containing an abrasive material, to remove deteriorated and sound concrete as well as asphalt and grout. This process provides an excellent bonding surface for repair material and new coating applications. First developed in Europe in the 1980s, this technology has become widely accepted for concrete removal and surface preparation throughout Europe and North America.
Road slipperiness is a condition of low skid resistance due to insufficient road friction. It is a result of snow, ice, water, loose material and the texture of the road surface on the traction produced by the wheels of a vehicle.
Polished concrete is a multi-step process where a concrete floor is mechanically ground, honed and polished with bonded abrasives in order to cut a concrete floor's surface. It is then refined with each cut in order to achieve a specified level of appearance.
Rubblization is a construction and engineering technique that involves saving time and transportation costs by reducing existing concrete into rubble at its current location rather than hauling it to another location. Rubblization has two primary applications: creating a base for new roadways and decommissioning nuclear power plants.
The International Grooving & Grinding Association (IGGA) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1972 that represents the industry that performs grooving and grinding of both concrete and asphalt surfaces in addition to Concrete Pavement Restoration (CPR) and Concrete Pavement Preservation (CPP) methods. CPR and CPP methods are a series of engineered techniques developed during the last 40 years to manage the rate of pavement deterioration in concrete streets, highways and airports. A non-overlay option used to repair areas of distress in concrete pavement without changing its grade, CPR restores the pavement to a condition close to or better than original and reduces the need for major and more costly repairs later. CPP/CPR addresses the cause of pavement distress, minimizing further deterioration. Covering road distress with an asphalt overlay does not correct the cause and will eventually manifest itself again, usually as a larger, more expensive problem. Asphalt overlays typically last eight to 12 years, whereas CPP and CPR last up to 30 years.
Crocodile cracking, also called alligator cracking and perhaps misleadingly fatigue cracking, is a common type of distress in asphalt pavement. The following is more closely related to fatigue cracking which is characterized by interconnecting or interlaced cracking in the asphalt layer resembling the hide of a crocodile. Cell sizes can vary in size up to 300 millimetres (12 in) across, but are typically less than 150 millimetres (5.9 in) across. Fatigue cracking is generally a loading failure, but numerous factors can contribute to it. It is often a sign of sub-base failure, poor drainage, or repeated over-loadings. It is important to prevent fatigue cracking, and repair as soon as possible, as advanced cases can be very costly to repair and can lead to formation of potholes or premature pavement failure.
Diamond grinding is a pavement preservation technique that corrects a variety of surface imperfections on both concrete and asphalt concrete pavements. Most often utilized on concrete pavement, diamond grinding is typically performed in conjunction with other concrete pavement preservation (CPP) techniques such as road slab stabilization, full- and partial-depth repair, dowel bar retrofit, cross stitching longitudinal cracks or joints and joint and crack resealing. Diamond grinding restores rideability by removing surface irregularities caused during construction or through repeated traffic loading over time. The immediate effect of diamond grinding is a significant improvement in the smoothness of a pavement. Another important effect of diamond grinding is the considerable increase in surface macrotexture and consequent improvement in skid resistance, noise reduction and safety.
Pavement milling is the process of removing at least part of the surface of a paved area such as a road, bridge, or parking lot. Milling removes anywhere from just enough thickness to level and smooth the surface to a full depth removal. There are a number of different reasons for milling a paved area instead of simply repaving over the existing surface.
A reflective crack is a type of failure in asphalt pavement, one of the most popular road surface types. Asphalt pavement is impacted by traffic and thermal loading. Due to loading, cracks can appear on pavement surface that can reduce the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) dramatically.