Concrete Roads

Concrete roads have a large number of advantages over bituminious ones. These advantages include:
Fuel Saving:Concrete roads are rigid pavements, which do not deflect under loaded trucks, unlike bitumen
pavements. Hence load carriers require less energy when travelling on concrete roads (since no effort is
expended in getting out of deflection 'ruts'). Trials carried out have shown that laden goods carriers
consume 15-20% less fuel on concrete roads as compared to bituminious ones. Considering the fact that
about 60% of our country's goods traffic moves by road, construction of a nation-wide network of concrete
roads could thus save us lot of foreign exchange now being spent on importing petroleum products.
Long Maintenance-Free Life:Concrete roads have a life of 40 years or more, compared to 10 years for
bituminious ones. In addition, concrete roads require almost no maintenance, whereas bituminious ones
need frequent repairs due to damage by traffic, weather, etc.
Gain in Traffic Speed:Concretising of existing roads has shown that this leads to significant gains in
traffic speeds, making in turn for a notable reduction in congestion and jams on high traffic density roads.
This increase in speed of vehicular movement , is due to the smooth concrete road surface which neither
needs repairs, nor allows digging can be dug up for laying utilities (for which ducts provided in advance
below the road surface). Increased traffic flow means saving of both time and fuel, as well as reduction of
pollution caused by idling engines.
Resistance to Weather, Oil Spils, etc.: Concrete roads are neither damaged by rain (being waterproof),
nor softened and distorted by heat. They also do not lose their binder due to leakage of oil from vehicles.
Hence they remain damagefree under most adverse conditions.
Economy in use of materials:For the same traffic load conditions, concrete pavements are thinner than
bituminious ones. Where the load bearing capacity of the soil is poor, a bituminious pavements may have
to be made more than one-and-a-half times thicker than a concrete one. Concrete roads thus use less
aggregates, which are in short supply or difficult to procure in many places.
Enviormental Friendliness:Concrete roads score over bitumen ones, as far as enviornmental friendliness
is concerned, in several ways. Firstly, production of concrete does not foul the atmosphere like the hot-mix
bitumen-based plants (the latter have been banned from operating in some cities, due to their polluting
nature). Secondly, concrete pavements can utilise fly ash, a polluting byproduct of thermal power plants.
Addition of fly ash to concrete increases its density as well as its resistance to chemical attack. Finally, as
already mentioned, faster movement of vehicles on concrete roads leads to lower pollution from vehicular
emissions.
Use of Indigenous Materials:Concrete roads use cement, which is manufactured from indegenously
available materials like limestone, of which a plentiful supply is available. Bituminious roads need
bitumen, which is obtained from imported crude oil (since Indian crude contains almost no bitumen).
Besides which, availability of crude oil both in India and abroad is likely to reduce in the near future , thus
jeopardising bitumen supplies required to repair existing bituminious roads.
Other Advantages:These include better reflectivity due to lighter colour(hence greater safety and lower
lighting requirements), greater skid resistance and so on.
Concrete roads, however, have one disadvantage vis-a-vas bituminious ones, in that they are initially costlier to
construct. However, with the price of bitumen going up steadily, and the use of fly ash (available free from power
plants) in making concrete mixes for pavements now being accepted, the relative cost of these two types of
pavements could become quite comparable.
When life-cycle costs are considered, concrete pavements with their long life and negligible maintenance, come
out invariably superior to bituminious ones.
As regards the economic costs to the country, fuel saving and enviornmental friendliness make concrete roads a far
superior choice over bituminous ones.
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Traffic and life
Heavy traffic, particularly heavy truck traffic, can affect pavement life.
The study started by comparing the structural characteristics of rigid (concrete) and flexible pavements.
Flexible pavements rely on the asphalt, base, and subbase layers to transfer the applied load.


Typical Flexible and Rigid Pavement Layers


Typical Load Distribution for Flexible and Rigid Pavement
Layers
What makes a good installation:
1. Test borings will establish whether soil will support the subbase and pervious soils that contain significant levels
of silt or clay that are either highly compressible, lack cohesion, or expand or contract with moisture absorption.
These may not be suitable for concrete pavement unless remediation steps are taken to stabilize the soil.
2. Base preparation. Before concrete is placed, the subbase must be compacted using a vibratory or other suitable
piece of equipment to achieve a minimum density of 90 to 95%. The compacted base must be done prior to the
placement of paving material, but no puddles of free-standing water can be tolerated.
3. The amount and timing of the addition of water to the mix is critical. Too much water will carry the cement
slurry to the base of the pavement, creating a barrier that prevents water from passing into the subbase and
substrate. Too little water prevents bonding of the aggregate to the cementitious mixtures.
4. The subbase must be compacted to specification. Ruts created by equipment or vehicles prior to placement must
be eliminated and recompaction used. Forms must be built to specified grades. Rail-mounted leveling equipment
should be aligned and placed prior to beginning placement. The material should be discharged from the trucks as
rapidly as possible and feasible. In leveling, the paved area must be rolled immediately, using a full-length roller
and supplemental compaction if needed.
5. Following placement, the pervious concrete should be covered with polyethylene film, which should be held
down securely. Curing time without traffic is seven days.
6.Air-entrained concrete, where thousands of microscopic air bubbles are introduced, lets the pavement material
withstand the effects of freeze/thaw cycles.