Structural assessment of plastic cell-filled concrete block pavement (PCCBP): an experimental study

Abstract

Experimental investigations into the structural behaviours of different thicknesses of plastic cell-filled concrete block pavement (PCCBP) over 100-mm thick water bound macadam sub-base course are presented. In this study, an attempt has been made to use waste stone dust in place of the traditional river sand as fine aggregates in concrete. Layer elastic moduli of different layers of PCCBP have been calculated using linear elastic theory-based backcalculation computer code BACKGA from the surface deflection data obtained through falling weight deflectometer. It has been observed that peak surface deflections decreased linearly with increasing PCCBP thickness; with 200% increase (from 50 to 150 mm) in thickness, a decrease of ∼48% in deflection was observed. Elastic layer modulus of PCCBP has been seen to increase linearly with increasing thickness (∼83% increase in elastic modulus was observed for 200% increase in thickness, with layer modulus value of ∼1995 MPa for 50-mm thick PCCBP). Furthermore, life cycle cost analysis showed that PCCBP is more economical than conventional pavements.

Keywords:

• stone dust
• concrete block pavements
• plastic cell-filled concrete block pavement
• falling weight deflectometer
• backcalculation code BACKGA