Determination of the most effective cement concrete block laying pattern and shape for road pavement based on field performance

Abstract

Concrete block paving is a cost-effective road construction method suitable for medium to low traffic roads. However, this concrete block paving technique is yet to develop as a fully fledged road construction method. Literature review has shown that there are some contradictions among past findings on block shapes and laying patterns. However, field performance has not been evaluated in selecting the most suitable block shape and laying pattern. Therefore, the aim of this research is to evaluate the most effective block shape and laying pattern for roads with medium to low traffic. Under this study, concrete blocks were cast according to the specifications in predetermined shapes, and paving was done with different block shapes and patterns in a road that contains vehicular traffic with a high percentage of heavy trucks and buses. A selected 100 m road length was divided into 10 equal parts, and blocks were paved according to selected patterns and block shapes from a finite-element model (FEM) analysis of a previous study in each different section. Deflection was measured using the Benkelman beam deflectometer, and block displacement was measured using a vernier caliper. The most effective block shape and pattern were selected by comparing deflections and block displacement in each combination of block shape and patterns. The analysis of results shows that the most effective combination of variables for cement concrete block laying are the unistyle block shape, the stretcher and herring block pattern, and the zero or 90° block angle. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000801.