An alternative method to reduce the construction cost and the reinforcement usage of the rigid pavement near the toll plaza in expressways.

Abstract

In expressways, a toll plaza structure is a conspicuous structure, where vehicles frequently brake and accelerate within a small distance. As a result, the pavement deteriorates at a higher rate compared to normal bituminous pavement. Hence, toll lanes near toll plazas are constructed as heavy reinforced concrete rigid pavements. In Sri Lanka, the same technique is used for rigid pavements near expressway toll plaza structures. Due to the high cost of this method, the objective of this research is to present a cost-effective way with acceptable efficiency by comparing methods and technologies that other countries use to construct rigid pavement in toll lanes. To achieve this objective, the used design methods and the material cost of the ColomboKatunayake expressway at Peliyagoda and Seeduwa toll entrances, Dambokka and Kurunegala toll entrances in the Northern expressway are discussed in this study. The study revealed that the replacement of reinforced concrete pavements in the above toll gates with Ultra-thin continuously reinforced concrete pavement can decrease the material cost by 7.97% at Peliyagoda, 36.08% at Seeduwa, 5.66% at Dambokka, and 5.48% at Kurunegala. Used pavement design and the proposed ultra-thin continuously reinforced concrete pavement are analyzed using the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) method through ABAQUS 2020 software. Obtained results indicated that it is more economical to use an ultra-thin continuously concrete pavement with steel fiber than the currently used method.