Innovation

Innovation Benefits Everyone

 

If there is such a thing as an all-purpose pavement to meet all demands, concrete pavement may well be the answer, a result of decades of innovation.

Even so, the concrete pavement industry is continually developing new paving processes and products, all aimed at meeting the changing demands of the traveling public, as well as the people responsible for our nation’s surface transportation network.

 

A new generation of quiet pavements

In response to urban noise and the public’s demand for quieter urban roadways, the industry is investing millions of dollars conducting extensive laboratory and field testing to pioneer a unique surface texture that can be used for either new or existing concrete pavements.

The “Next Generation Concrete Surface” (NGCS) re proving to be as quiet or quieter than any alternative, including the newest generations of asphalt pavements. NGCS concrete pavements are not only quiet when they are first built, they remain quiet.

 

A different kind of CPR

All pavements eventually need to be repaired or replaced because of routine wear and tear, as well as the constant changes in the environment around the pavement and the earth beneath the pavement.

On older concrete pavements when the surface becomes uneven or loses tire griping surface texture, diamond grinding will restore the smooth ride and safe traction. And since the grinding process is with the direction of travel, diamond grinding greatly reduces tire noise associated with rough pavements. For more information http://www.igga.net/specs/pdfs/FINAL2DiamondGrindingforCityStreetsSpec.pdf

 

Fast-track paving

In cases where construction or repairs are performed on particularly busy pavement sections, fast-track paving is the answer. Unique planning and construction staging techniques, advanced traffic management, and special rapid-setting concrete mixtures are used to build or rehab pavements quickly and with few disruptions.

 

Maturity testing of concrete plays an important role in quickly opening new concrete pavements to traffic. Learn more about maturity testing at http://www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/39p.pdf

Many fast-track pavements have been completed overnight and then, opened to rush hour traffic the next morning. New techniques using pre-cast concrete slabs are also gaining popularity. Pre-cast slabs are made in an off-site factory, shipped to the construction site and lifted into place, allowing traffic to resume using the roadway within hours.

 

Better resurfacing

Concrete overlays as thin as 2 inches, were created by engineers of the American Concrete Pavement Association to provide a cost-effective alternative to thin flexible pavements, which typically last about 10 years.

Funny thing, though— concrete overlays typically outlast the competition, as well as exceed their life expectancy. The result? Some of the earliest and thinnest concrete overlays, placed in the early 1980’s, were carrying traffic for nearly 20 years— more than twice their engineered design life.

 

To learn the latest techniques of concrete overlays of existing problem pavements without all the work that goes into complete removal and replacement go to: http://www.cptechcenter.org/publications/overlays/index.htm

For innovative solutions to challenging problems, concrete pavement is the right choice beneath your tires.