Long-Life Concrete Pavements in Europe and Canada

Long-life concrete pavements require less frequent repair and rehabilitation and contribute to highway safety and congestion mitigation. The Federal Highway Administration, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and National Cooperative Highway Research Program sponsored a scanning study to identify design philosophies, materials requirements, construction procedures, and maintenance strategies used in Europe and Canada to build long-life concrete pavements. The scan team observed that concrete pavements in the countries visited are designed for 30 or more years of low-maintenance service life. The countries are responding to pavement-tire noise issues in urban areas by using exposed aggregate surface. Some use catalog designs for pavements and geotextiles as a separator layer between the cement-treated base and concrete pavement. Team recommendations for U.S. implementation include using two-lift construction to build pavements, developing pavement design catalogs, using better-quality materials in pavement subbases, paying greater attention to cement and concrete mixture properties, using a geotextile interlayer to prevent concrete slabs from bonding to the cement-treated base, and using exposed aggregate surfaces to reduce noise.