An investigation of plastic cell filled concrete block pavement (PCCBP) overlay

Abstract

To explore the possibility of using plastic cell filled concrete block pavement (PCCBP) as overlay in pavement construction, an experimental investigation has been carried out by comparing the structural behaviour (layer elastic moduli) of a ∼ 50 mm thick PCCBP overlay and a conventional bituminous surface of similar thickness. To economise the cost of construction of PCCBP, an attempt has also been made to use waste stone dust in place of the traditional river sand as fine aggregates in concrete. Based on the investigation, it has been found that an increase of ∼ 235% in surface layer modulus is observed when PCCBP is used instead of bituminous layer (Overlay PCCBP layer modulus=1982 MPa). PCCBP as overlay construction on the existing bituminous pavement shows no significant distresses even after 62,000 ESAL load repetitions and can be rated ‘Excellent’ based on PCI (∼ 90) rating (ICPI, 2007).

Keywords:

• stone dust
• low volume roads
• plastic cell filled concrete block pavement (PCCBP)
• falling weight deflectometer (FWD)
• BACKGA