Effects of degradation on the service life of an interlocked pavement

ABSTRACT

The degradation of the interlocked pavement depends on the defects, mainly in the bearing layer. This happens because the change in the load attenuation capacity of the concrete blocks modifies the state of stress imposed on the rest of the structure. In this sense, this paper aims to evaluate how defects in the covering of an interlocked pavement, in different severities, alter its service life. The results showed that the defects in the joints between the pieces have a greater influence on the reduction of the service life, the results for the analyzed pavement showed a reduction of the service life of up to 5 years. On the other hand, the damage of the blocks and the loss of useful height of contact between the pieces acting in isolation impair the structural capacity of the pavement, however for the analyzed pavement allow the structure to support the desing traffic. It also observed that the aggravation of the analyzed defects generates an overlap of effects that promote the increase of damage, having a more significant impact on the reduction of the pavement's service life.

KEYWORDS:

• Interlocking pavement
• service life
• defects
• management
• degradation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).