AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DESIGN OF INTERLOCKING CONCRETE BLOCK PAVEMENTS FOR ROADS

This paper reports a series of accelerated trafficking trials of interlocking concrete block pavements. The objectives of the experiment were to examine the relationship between pavement performance and block and subbase thickness for block pavements laid on crusher- run subbases overlying a clay subgrade. In addition, the paper describes a limited study of the effects of subbase quality. The relationship between performance and layer thickness was combined with a previously developed mechanistic analysis and was used to verify a number of recently published design methods for block pavements. It is shown that, in general, these methods tend to be conservative provided good quality subbase materials are used. In this respect there does not appear to be any justification for relaxing the standards required in unbound subbases for block pavements (a). The number of the covering abstract of the conference is TRIS No. 368448. (TRRL)