Ultra thin reinforced concrete pavement: practical applications

Abstract

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.

Over the last decade considerable research effort has led to the development of Ultra Thin Reinforced Concrete Pavements (UTRCP). The objective of this paper is to present practical refinements to the original concepts and theories. This paper will briefly discuss the development of UTRCP, and problems encountered during the implementation of UTRCP technology. Refinements were proposed and implemented in a number of projects. These projects are discussed and illustrated to demonstrate the usefulness of the UTRCP. This paper also briefly discusses the cost implications of the UTRCP as well as a cost comparison with equivalent surfacings such as 45 mm asphalt and 80 mm block paving. It was found that the refinements which included a different reinforcing mesh, the use of ready mix concrete and a spin roller for compaction and finishing resolved most of the previous problems.