The European Concrete Paving Association (EUPAVE) held the 5th Workshop on Best Practices in Concrete Paving on Wednesday October 14, 2020 at Hôtel Le Châtelain in Brussels. The theme for this year was “Concrete Pavement Preservation (CPP)”. Initially planned in March 2020, the workshop was rescheduled due to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, and changed to a combined physical and online/virtual event. The event was broadcasted live, with 6 concrete pavement experts in attendance (socially distanced), and about 50 virtual participants. The organizers were very pleased with the dual attendance.
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Mr. Luc Rens, Managing-Director-EUPAVE, opened the workshop and gave the welcome on behalf of Mr. Jeroen de Vrieze, Chairman-EUPAVE Best Practices working group who could not physically attend due to travel restrictions.
Mr. Rens began the event with:
• A presentation on the definition, concepts, and strategies of concrete pavement preservation
• Referred to an excellent publication on Concrete Pavement Preservation (CPP) by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), he presented a broader definition of CPP as “a strategy of extending concrete pavement service life as long as possible by arresting, greatly diminishing or avoiding the pavement deterioration process”.
• This strategy can be achieved by:
1—Designing and constructing durable long-life concrete pavements (LLCP) structurally adequate and relatively distress-free throughout a long service life
2—Overlays (asphalt or concrete) as a preservation treatment
3—Maintaining serviceability of the existing concrete pavement using CPR (restoration) treatments
• He briefly spoke about some surface restoration techniques as a possible CPR treatment:
—Diamond grinding
—The Next Generation Concrete Surface
—Fine-milling and micro-milling.
Mrs. Anne Beeldens, Owner and Consulting Engineer-AB-Roads, gave a presentation on “Road Auscultation and Condition Assessment”. The well-illustrated presentation, including several practical cases, dealt with the following three domains:
1—Evaluating structural adequacy: ability to withstand repeated structural loading
2—Assessing the durability of the pavement materials: ability to withstand environmental deterioration
3—Assessing the functional adequacy of the pavement
• Smoothness
• Noise
• Skid resistance…
Mr. Buys, Managing-Director-Robuco, gave a presentation on “Maintenance and Repair Techniques for Concrete Slabs”. He discussed the different options for joint maintenance and crack repair, and presented the benefits of dowel bar retrofit, with a case study of the N44 in Belgium. Restoring the load transfer between slabs can easily extend the service life of an old concrete road (> 50 years in this case) by more than 10 years.
Mr. Tim Alte-Teigeler, Head of R&D–Otto Alte-Teigeler GmbH, also gave a pre-recorded presentation on “Maintenance and Repair Techniques for Concrete Slabs”, as he could not attend the event in person. He focused on cross stitching, partial depth repair, lifting and stabilizing of slabs, and full depth repair. He stressed the importance of choosing the suitable repair technique for any pattern of damage. In order to ensure the long service life of concrete pavements, repair measures have to be applied on short notice after damages occur.
Coffee Break
Mr. Didier Snoek, Researcher at Magnel-Vandepitte Laboratory for Structural Engineering and Building Materials-Ghent University introduced the “Self-healing concrete by means of superabsorbent polymers”. His presentation included information on hydrogels, microstructure, self-sealing, and seal-healing. This innovative development is obviously a promising solution for concrete pavement preservation in the future. Field tests are already going on in some projects, confirming the laboratory results.
Mr. Elia Boonen, Researcher-Belgian Road Research Centre, presented on “Durable repair and rehabilitation of CRCP”. The principles for continuously reinforced concrete (CRCP) are different compared to jointed plain concrete. In the first place, the continuity of the longitudinal steel always needs to be restored in case of repairs. Different repair techniques were presented as well as some larger rehabilitation projects.
Q&A (Question & Answer Session)
Luc Rens concluded the workshop.
PRESENTATIONS (click on each to go to the presentation):
1. Luc Rens – Intro & CPP – EUPAVE BP Workshop, 14102020
2. Anne Beeldens – Road auscultation and condition assessment – EUPAVE BP Workshop, 14102020
3. Pascal Buys – Maintenance repair tech concrete slabs – EUPAVE BP Workshop, 14102020
4. Tim Alte-Teigeler – Maintenance and repair techniques for concrete slabs – EUPAVE BP Workshop, 14102020
5. Didier Snoeck – Self-healing concrete – EUPAVE BP Workshop, 14102020
6. Elia Boonen – CRCP Repair – EUPAVE BP Workshop, 14102020
For more on the Webinar, please go to: www.eupave.eu/great-presentations-on-concrete-pavement-preservation-at-eupaves-technical-workshop-webinar/
For the ISCP article on “Self-healing Concrete” titled “Smart Concrete Paves Way to High-Tech, Cost-Effective Roads”, please go to: www.concretepavements.org/2020/11/27/smart-concrete-paves-way-to-high-tech-roads/