The European Concrete Paving Association held its second Workshop in Brussels, Belgium on February 17, 2016 titled “Best Practices in Concrete Paving – Joints in Concrete Pavements”. The first edition of the workshop series was held in May 2015, and was dedicated to the topic of “Surface Texture and Evenness”. The February 2016 workshop gathered 45 concrete paving practitioners including contractors, designers, engineers, academics, and material and equipment manufacturers.
Karl Downey, Secretary General-EUPAVE, welcomed the participants and presented EUPAVE’s mission and main activities in the areas of in technical know-how, advocacy and communications. He highlighted how EUPAVE’s new membership category of “Partner” has successfully grown EUPAVE’s membership with contractors and designers.
Özlem Aslan, Technical Manager-EUPAVE, presented the Best Practices Working Group (WG) activities. Ms. Aslan gave the feedback of the first workshop, held in May 2015. In addition to organisation of the workshops, the Best Practices WG organizes technical visits, publishes technical brochures, and contributes to the organization of the four-yearly International Symposium of Concrete Roads.
Romain Buys, ROBUCO, gave an introductory speech on the topic of the day: “Joints in Concrete Pavements”. He highlighted the importance of joints in concrete pavement performance, starting from design phase to construction, and throughout the service life.
Luc Rens, Managing Director-EUPAVE, and ISCP Board Member, moderated a series of presentations by invited experts on various aspects of joints. The session turned out to be lively exchange of ideas, experience and best practices by the participants. Sharing experiences from Europe and further afield among concrete pavement experts represented an opportunity to discuss innovative and smart solutions to concrete infrastructure.
Presented topics:
• Mr. Rens: Joint layout. He urged the holistic approach in design and construction of joints.
• Anne Beeldens, BRRC, ISCP Member: Longitudinal joints and expansion joints,
general practice, and a case study from Belgian highway E34/N49.
• Types of joints and joint sealing materials. The differences in working mechanisms of the joints and the
types of sealants were explained together with substantial tips and suggestions for implementation.
• Joint maintenance with different types of sealants—in a diverse range of applications in various countries and climates.
• The role of joints in concrete safety barriers
• “Jointless pavements through the use of shrinkage compensating cement”
Mr. Downey adjourned the workshop by thanking the group for active participation. The topic of the next workshop will be determined taking into account the suggestions by the participants. The next edition of the Symposium will be held in Germany in 2018.
