TOPIC 5:

CONSTRUCTION OF
RIGID PAVEMENT HIGHWAY
Prepared by
Pn.Sapinah binti Hadi

1
 SUBTOPIC
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Function of rigid pavement
5.3 Sketch of rigid pavement structure
5.4 Material
Concrete, joint, reinforcement, tie bar, dowel bar,
5.5 Types of joints in rigid pavement
5.6 Types of rigid pavement
5.7 Method of paving rigid pavement
5.8 Advantage & disadvantage

2
 RIGID PAVEMENT

3
 5.1 Introduction
o Rigid pavements have sufficient flexural strength to transmit the wheel
load stresses to a wider area below.
o Rigid pavements are placed either directly on the prepared sub-grade or
on a single layer of granular or stabilized material or only one layer of
material between the concrete and the sub-grade, can be called as base
or sub-base course.
o They are called rigid pavements because they do not allow any
flexibility.
o Characteristic of rigid pavement:
o Concrete slab are rigid
o Construct in slab and continuous
o Have long serviceability
o Road maintenance are complicated and cost is high.

4
 Types of Pavements

5
6 Flexible Rigid
 5.2 Function of rigid pavement
o Provide a flat surface & safe.
o Receive and distribute the load of the vehicle to the bottom
layer.
o Become a waterproof layer to prevent seepage of surface
runoff into the lower layers.

7
 5.3 Rigid pavement structure

8
 (i) Surface course
The surface course is the layer in contact with traffic loads
and is made of PCC.
It provides characteristics such as friction, smoothness, noise
control and drainage.
In addition, it serves as a waterproofing layer to the
underlying base, sub base and subgrade. The surface course
can vary in thickness but is usually between 150 mm (6
inches) (for light loading) and 300 mm (12 inches) (for heavy
loads and high traffic).

9
 (ii) Base course
The base course is immediately beneath the surface course.
It provides
(1) additional load distribution,
(2) contributes to drainage and frost resistance,
(3) uniform support to the pavement
(4) a stable platform for construction equipment.
Base courses are usually constructed out of:
Aggregate
Stabilized aggregate or soil
Lean concrete

10
 (iii) Sub base course
The sub base course is the portion of the pavement structure
between the base course and the subgrade.
It functions primarily as structural support but it can also:
Improve drainage.
Minimize frost action damage.
Provide a working platform for construction.
The sub base generally consists of lower quality materials than the
base course but better than the subgrade soils.
Appropriate materials are aggregate and high quality structural fill.
A sub base course is not always needed or used.

11
 5.4Material use for Rigid Pavement

o Concrete cement+aggregate+ water

o Joint
o Reinforcement
o Tie bar
o Dowel bar

12
 Concrete
o Concrete cement, fine aggregate, course aggregate, water and
added material.
o Be strong and durable can sustaining their serviceability.
o Concrete strength measured by tensile & compressive strength.
o Compressive strength must not than 2.3N/mm2.

13
 Reinforcement
o Function - withstand a tensile force & prevent the occurrence
of cracks in the road with a set of interlocking aggregate.
o High tensile steel mesh reinforcement is used to overcome
the cracking problem
o To facilitate the movement at the connection & transfer load
from one slab to a slab, tie bars & dowel bars) are used.

14
 Dowel bars
Dowel bars are short steel bars that provide a
mechanical connection between slabs without
restricting horizontal joint movement.
They increase load transfer efficiency by
allowing the leave slab to assume some of the
load before the load is actually over it.
This reduces joint deflection and stress in the
approach and leave slabs.

15
 Tie bars
Tie bars are either deformed steel bars or
connectors used to hold the faces of abutting
slabs in contact.
They may provide some minimal amount of load
transfer.
Tie bars are typically used at longitudinal joints
or between an edge joint and a curb or shoulder.
Typically, tie bars are about 12.5 mm in
diameter and between 0.6 and 1.0 m.

16
 Dowel Bars

Tie Bars

17
 Typical Dowel Bars Location on Transverse Joints

18
19
Workers manually insert dowel bars into the construction joint
 Tie Bars Along a Longitudinal Joint
20
 5.5 Types of joint in rigid pavement
Pavement joints are vital to control pavement cracking
and pavement movement.
Without joints, most concrete pavements would be
riddled with cracks within one or two years after
placement.
Water, ice, salt and loads would eventually cause
differential settlement and premature pavement failures.
These same effects may be caused by incorrectly placed
or poorly designed pavement joints.
Consideration should be given to the design and
placement of the pavement joints so that the end result
is a properly functioning pavement system.

21
 Joint in concrete pavements are provided due to following
reasons:
To permit expansion and contraction of concrete under the
action of temperature and moisture content.
To relieve warping and curling stress due to temperature
between top and bottom of pavement slab.
To prevent irregular longitudinal cracks developed due to heavy
wheel loads in continuous slab.
To allow for break in construction at the end of the days work.

22
 Types of joints
a) Transverse joints b) Longitual Joints
i. Contraction joints i. Expansion Joints
/shrinkage joint ii. Warping
ii. Expansion joints joints/buckling joint
iii. Warping joints
/buckling joint
iv. Construction joints

23
24
 i. Contraction joints
These joints are provided
to receive tension
developed in concrete due
to contraction.
Contraction joints are
spaced closer than the
expansion joints.

25
 ii.Expansion joints
An expansion joint is placed at a
specific location to allow the
pavement to expand without
damaging adjacent structures or the
pavement itself.
These joint also allow for the
expansion of the slab due to rise in
the slab temperature.
Expansion joints also permit
contraction of the slab and help to
reduce warping stress.
Dowel bars are used to transfer the
load to the adjoining slab.

26
 iii.Warping joints
These are called higher joints and
are provided to relieve stresses
induced due to warping.
These joints are simply breaks in
continuity of concrete which allow
a small amount of angular
movement to occur between
adjacent slabs.
These joints are rarely needed if the
properly designed expansion and
contraction joints are provided to
prevent cracking.

27
 iv.Construction joints
A construction joint is a joint
between slabs that results when
concrete is placed at different
times.
This type of joint can be further
broken down into transverse and
longitudinal construction joints.
Longitudinal construction joints
also allow slab warping without
appreciable separation or cracking
of the slabs.

28
 5.6 Types of rigid pavement

A.Mass concrete / plain concrete

B.Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRC)
C.Continuous reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP)
D.Pre-stress concrete (PSC)

29
 A.Mass concrete / plain concrete
Plain concrete pavement uses contraction joints to control
cracking and does not use any reinforcing steel.
Transverse joint spacing is selected such that temperature and
moisture stresses do not produce intermediate cracking
between joints.
Dowel bars are typically used at transverse joints to assist in
load transfer.
Tie bars are typically used at longitudinal joints.
Plain concrete pavements are used mainly on low volume
highway or when cement stabilized soils are used as subbase.

30
31 plain concrete
 B.Jointed Reincforcement Concrete
Pavement (JPCP)
JRCP uses contraction joints and reinforcing steel to control
cracking.
Transverse joint spacing is longer than that for URC and
typically ranges from about 7.6 m (25 ft.) to 15.2 m (50 ft.).
Temperature and moisture stresses are expected to cause
cracking between joints, hence reinforcing steel or a steel
mesh is used to hold these cracks tightly together.
Dowel bars are typically used at transverse joints to assist in
load transfer while the reinforcing steel/wire mesh assists in
load transfer across cracks.

32
33 Jointed Reinforcement Concrete Pavement
 C. Continuously Reinforced Concrete
Pavement (CRCP)
CRCP does not require any contraction joints.
Reinforcing steel usually constitutes about 0.6 0.7 percent
of the cross-sectional pavement area and is located near mid-
depth in the slab.
CRCP have no transverse joints, except construction joints
or expansion joints when they are necessary at specific
positions, such as at bridge.
They also contain tie bars across the longitudinal joints.

34
 Continuously Reinforced Concrete
Pavement (CRCP)

35
36
 D. Pre-stress concrete (PSC)
PSC will all be pre-tensioned in the transverse direction
during fabrication and post-tensioned together in the
longitudinal direction after placement.
Such scheduling will significantly reduce traffic
congestion resulting from construction activities, which in
turn will greatly reduce user delay costs while also
ensuring a durable, high-performance pavement.
Pavement construction that makes use of precast
concrete panels can take place during off-peak travel
times, such as at night and over weekends.
The advantage of using pre-stressed panels is a significant
increase in the durability of the pavement, with a
significant reduction in required pavement thickness.
37
38
39
 5.7 Method of paving rigid pavement
(a) Fixed-form paving
(b) Slip-form paving

40
 (a) Fixed-form paving
Fixed-form paving is a form of concrete pavement construction
where fixed forms are used to hold the concrete in place at
the proper grade and alignment during construction.
In general, fixed-form paving is not as productive as slip-form
paving because of the difference in the efficiency of the
placing, spreading, and finishing operations with form riding
equipment.
In addition, it takes time and effort to set and remove forms
before and after paving.
However, fixed-form paving is more applicable than slip-form
paving in certain situations such as ramps, small paving areas,
or where slip-form paving is not feasible or not economical.

41
 Steel Forms Wood Forms

42
43
 (b) Slip-form paving
Slip-form paving is the most widely used paving method in
modern concrete paving construction.
The slip-form paver consolidates screeds and initially
finishes the concrete in one continuous operation
without the need of forms.
Modern slip-form paving equipment can be simply
forcing, pressing, or pushing a material through a die or
mold to create the desired shape.
Because there are no forms, the plastic concrete must be
able to hold the pavement edge.
Slip-form paving is most appropriate for larger jobs
that require high production rates.

44
 Slip-form pavers contain various combinations of all or
some of the following components:
i. auger spreader - spreads the concrete uniformly
across the paving area
ii. spud vibrators - consolidates the concrete

iii. oscillating screeds & clary screed - strikes off the top
of the concrete to a suitable elevation to feed into
the mold that shapes the pavement into the proper
geometric configuration
iv. tamping bars lightly tamps large aggregates into the
top of the concrete slab to prevent the paver's mold
from snagging the aggregate and causing a tear in the
top of the slab
v. pan floats - after screeding, the concrete surface is
finished with a pan float that further smoothes and
consolidates the concrete.
45
 Slip-form Paver

46
 Slip-form Paver
47
 5.8 Advantages & disadvantage
Advantages of rigid pavement:
They provide excellent smooth surface for driving
They can deal with very heavy traffic
Considering their life span, maintenance cost etc, rigid pavement road prove cheaper than
bitumen roads.
Less maintenance
Their life span is very large
Even after their life span of life, they can be used as base course and surfacing can be provided of
bituminous materials
Heating of aggregates and cement is not to be done
They provide better visibility
Working with cement concrete is much easier and safer than bituminous materials.
Heavy rollers are not required for compaction for rigid pavement
Handling cement is easier than bitumen
They perform quite satisfactory when laid on poor types of subgrades

48
 Disadvantages of rigid pavement
They involve heavy initial investment
Lots of joints are to provide which prove additional places of
weakness
28 days of curing is required after completion before they can
be opened to traffic
It is not possible to adopt stage construction programmed in
these road
Rigid pavement road surface after some time of use becomes
very smooth and slippery
It is a noise road

49
 Thank You

50