Simplified Design of Roller-Compacted Concrete Composite Pavement

Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) is a durable, economical paving material for heavy-duty traffic. In the past, most RCC pavements have been built for low-speed traffic because of the difficulty of producing a smooth surface. A composite pavement system consisting of an RCC pavement structure and a hot-mix asphalt (HMA) riding surface is proposed. Simplified design tables, based on mechanistic analysis, are presented. Only fatigue cracking was considered, because performance studies of RCC have shown very little tendency for joint or crack faulting. Use of the design procedure is illustrated through an example. Results are compared with several other design procedures. Guidance for materials selection for the HMA surface layer and the subbase layer is provided, and construction considerations are reviewed. Cost data show that the initial cost of RCC pavements may be as low as 62% of the cost of conventional paving alternatives (not counting the HMA surface course). Suggested areas for further research into RCC composite pavements are discussed. The advances in RCC technology over the past two decades have made RCC a durable, economical alternative for industrial and multimodal pavements. Further use of RCC as part of a composite pavement system for highways offers considerable potential. One obstacle to use of RCC for highways has been the absence of a suitable design procedure. That need has been addressed in this research.