IRC 91-1985

TENTATIVE GUIDELINES
FOR
CONSTRUCTION OF CEMENT
CONCRETE PAVEMENTS
IN
COLD WEATHER

THE INDIAN ROADS cON(;RESS

1985

<<
 IRC 914985

TENTATIVE GUIDELINES
FOR
CONSTRUCTION OF CEMENT
CONCRETE PAVEMENTS
IN
COLD WEATHER

Published by
THE iNDIAN ROADS CONGRESS
Jamnagar House, Shabjahan Road,
N Dell-i 10 011
1985
Price Ra jh,JIij ~
<< ~Piuspacking and pos1agc~
 ———.

JRC 914985
First published ~December, 1985

(Rights of Pub/icat (on and pf Translation are reserved)

<< Printed at PRINTAID, New Delhi-hO 020

 IRC 91-1985

CONTENTS

Page No.
1. General ... 1
2. Scope ... 2
3. Problems Associated with Cold Weather
Concreting ... 2
4. Concrcte Pavements In Frost Affected
Areas-Design Aspects ... 3
5. Precautionary Measures Against Adverse
Effects ofCold Weather Concreting-Materials ... 5
6. PrecautIonary Measures Against Effects of
Cold Weather Concreting-Production,
Placement and Curing ... 6
7. QuaLity ControL ... 7
8. AppendLc Estimation ofTemperature ofFreshly
Mixed Concrete from the Temperatures and
Proportions ofthe Mix Ingredients 9

<<
 IRC 91-1985

TENTATiVE GU~EUNES FOR CONSTRUCTiON OF

CEMENT CONCRETE PAVEMENTS IN COLI) ~ATHFR

1, GENERAL
1:1. Although India is a tropical country, many parts in the
Northern region are subject to extremely low and subfreezing
temperatures in the whiter season, While it is imperative to carty
out concrete construction in such areas during the summer period.
it may not always be possible t~oobserve such restrictions, and
construction period may have to be extended to the maxim urn
possible limits, In view of the slow rate of setting and strength
development of concrete at lower te mperatures and susceptibility
of concrete to frost damage at subfreezing temperatures, it is
essential to observe special precautions in case of such cold
weather concreting.

L2. 7’he methods recommended for adoption In case Cf

cold weather or winter concreting are given in these guIdelInes.
The guidelines are intended to ensure the quality construction of
concrete pavements in cold weather, limiting the adverse effects
of such weather on concrete pavement construction to the,
minimum. These guidelines are intended to supplement ERC:
15-1981 ~Standard Specifications and Code of Practice for the
Construction of Concrete Roads (Second Revision)”, and shoul ti
he used in conjunction therewith,
1.3. The Tentative Guidelines for Construction of Cement
Concrete Pavements in Cold Weather were prepared by the
Cement Concrete Road Surfacing Committee (personnel given
below) and the final draft Guidelines were finalised by the
Committee in their meetings held at Bh u haneshwar on the 24th
December, 1982 and at Nag,pur on the 8th January, 1984.
K. K, Narnbiar
Y, IL Phuil . Member—Secretary
ITS. Hhtathi ‘1 ~A. B. D’sa

Note: These Guidelines are intended speciticalty for cemeru concrete pa~emeMs.
For cold weather concreting in general, reference may be made to tt~7861
(Part U)—1981 “Code of Practice for Extreme Weather Cond iilons” Pan Ii
I’ it ommi.nded Prac tat Im C old \\ t.s thi t onc~U ing

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IRC : 91.1985

P, V. Kama A Rep. of Ninionat Council

U. P. hal Cement and ttui ding Materials
1’, ~ Mehta President, Indian S oads Congress
V. Raghavan (V.5. Rane) -Eec-offic/o
A. Sankanan Director General (Road Development
N, Sivaguru & Add,l. Secretary to the Cost, of
U. Raman India i ‘K K. Sanin .Ex~ctflicfo
Mai, Uen, J. M. Rai Adviser, Indian Roads Congress
K. a. Ra~ (P.C. Bhttsin)-E.tr’off/cfo
A. S. thhatnagar Secretary. lrtdian Roads Congress
City Engineer, I Roads) (Ninan KosIti)-ffr—aIfic/o
Bombay Municipal Corporation

Later on, the above mentioned draft guidelines were

processed ansi approve t:l by the Spc cifleatirins & Standards
cc.rn m ittee and the Executive Corn in ittee. in their meetings held at
Ncw Delhi on the 21st August arid 22nd August, 1985 respectively
Hr h:~ing considered by the Council, The Council in their 114th
meetin p held at Pa naji (ba) on the 6th Sc’ ptemhe r, 1985 approved
these Guidelines Hr being ptthltshctl by’ the. Indian Roads Congress,

2. SCOPE
2.1. Although it tuay he difficult to ptnpoint the lowest
temperature below which the cement concrete paving works having
lnrge surface areas exposed to cold weather would be adversely
affected, a temperature of 4°C may he considered as the critical
one for adoption of special precautions, especially in view of
expa nsion of water on cooling below this temperature anti possi-
bility of consequent development of disruptive volume changes in
fresh concrete,

2.2. These guidelines cover the special measures and

precautions required for carrying out concrete paving, works at
ambient temperatures below 4-5°C’ as well as special precautions
irnpereative, in case of concrete pavements subjected to sub-freez-
ing temperatures after construction even when construction is not
required to he carried out in cold weather

3. PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WiTH COLD

%~rEATHERCONCRETING

3. 1. Problems associated with cold weather concrete may

broadly he considered in two groups: (a) those due to low
temperatures above freezing point, and (h) those due to
ten’ perature below freezing point.
32. As setting and hardening of cement is a hygrothermal
phenonrrtenon, at low tempratures the setting and hardening

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 IRC: 91-1985
reach ions of ct:ntet’e’te proceed at a slower rate than at the normal
tempenalures’. The setung of concrete, as well as its strength
cieve]cipntent tvil I, the re.fore, he ni uc’h slower at hew ten. peratures,
necessUating. retention of’ forniwork (hr lctnge.r periods, and
extended curing, Whenever the ambient temperatures are
conside red too low let obtain satisfactory resuRs by such extended
incas ure s alone or such extension of curing period is not practicable
clue to arty reasons, additional measures to rise, the temperature
at which concrete is laid and cure. el cdli be required
33. Fresh concrete subjected to subfreezing, tempenatures
can experience substantial hess of strength and damage to concrete,
Frost cIa rnage to concrete is independent of the freezing;
te niperatune ansi mix proporLions of’ concrete. The decrease in
strength may he 30-40 per cent for concrete frozen irni mediately
after placeme.nb If freezing occurs alter 24 hours of placement, the.
.

loss is somewhat less, However, concrete once cia macted in this

manner will not recover the strength equivalent to tha.t of unfrozen
concrete, and it is important to take adequate precautions to
prevent such freezing.

3,4. Mature c.oncre.te, when subjected to subfreezing temper-

a,tlures, develops ressure within the pores ol’ cent ent paste ci tte’ to
freezing and expansion of water I herein. Similar phenomenon may
also occur within the aggregates, cle.pe nd ing on the.:’ porosity and
pore sizes, When the pressure surpasse.s the tensile strength of con—
crete, the pore walls are ruptured ansi concrete gets daniageci, result-
ing in surface sealing, Use of de:—icing salts her clearini.;~the pavement
of snow and ice can further enhance sin face scaling. in case of
pavements hating. shrinkage or other sit rthce cracks, such cracks
can also grad ii ally propagate lot then in depth a.s well a.s exte’ nt
under the repeated wedeine; action of wate,r penetrating theri.:in
and freezing, Certain precautions taken initially at the lime of
c.onstruction can help reduce these problems substantially,

4. CONCRETE PAVEMENTS IN FROST AFFECTED

AREAS - DESIGN AWECTS

4.1. Pavement Foundation

4’ 1,1. In frost afl’ecteci areas, the sub—base may consist of arty
of the sepcihcatioris given in section 6.3.1, of IRC: i5—l98l with the
additional provison that in case of stahilised semi—rigid materials,
their 7 days compressive, strength, when cured under wet condi-
tion, shall not be. less than 35 kg/cm2.
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 II.:,I.. II, l~:i8~

4, 1,2 For protect:on against frost action, the balance

thickness hetsveen frost depth and total pavement thickness in-
ci udine the sub—base shotil ci not contain any frost susceptible
material. inc case the existing subgrade material is forst suscepti-
ble, pavement may be protected either by raising the formation level
using non-frost susceptible nnatenials on by replace meat of frost
susceptible materials to required depth hy non-frost susceptihie
ones, For this purpose, for moderate conditions such as those
prevailing u”pto ant altitude of 3000 in, the thickness of frost depth
may he taken as 45 cm. For extreme conditions, the foundation
may he. designed individ ually for each location after determin
ing the frost depth.

4,1.3, 1’ he suggested criteria for selection of non-frost susce-

ptible materials are given in Table 1.

Tans I

Foundation material Maxinnunt per cent’ passing

IS: Sieve No,

75 micron 50 micron
Graded gntvel S —

Pooi’Iy graded .:;~mnit hO 5

[‘inc uni I’on no Sitnd is

In case of graded gravel, the plasticity index and liquid

limit should also not exceed 6 and 25 me. spectively,

4,2. Fining Concrete

4,2.1. i’o iinpnove Ihe durability of paving concrete against
l’nost action, air—entrained concrete should he used, with air—
entrainment of’ the cinder of 4. per cent,
4,2.2, Air-entrainment reduces concrete. strength to the
extent of about 5 rm~cent for each per cent of air-entrained, and
at the sa rrte time improves the workability of c’onerete. However,
reduction in strength can be only partly offset by reduction in
water content to readjust the increased workability, and the air—
erit rained concrete mix should he specifically designed for the
stipulated stnc u glh and workability requirements.

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 9i-l9fi5

5, PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES AGAiNST

ADVI ~sr I [‘FaCF S UI COil) WFATHr R
CONCRETING -~~MATERiALS

5.’I. Aggregates
5 1 1 Spec MI attcntion is required lot sc lec.tmou iii qu tIdy
aggregates her concrete subject to sub-freezing, temperatures.
DL mist lrni d sound aggi egatc s c~ith htth. oi no w Ltd i ihsoip
flon in di sir able, as por otis iggr t_ gates v~ith high waft i tbsnr litton
can crack on freezing ‘of thei absorbed moisture therein, Porosity,
wate. m absorption and soundness in freeze-and-thaw tests need parti-
cul am consideration in evaluation, of a’ny aggregate for suitability
for such concrete,

5,1.2. At the. time of u.se in construction, the aggregate should

not contain frost, ice, snow or iunips ‘of hardened mass resulting
therefrom.

5.2. Cement
5.2.1. ia viecv of slower mate ‘of strength developmen.t at
l.nwer temperatures use of Rapid H...ar’d’ei~ing Portland Cement
conforming to 15 8014—1976 or High Strength Ordinary Portland,
Ce.me.nt conforming to IS 8112-1976 is imperative. In case
Ordinary Portland Cement (IS 269-1976) is used, it is desirable
to use a.n accelerator therewith. Such accelerators mnay also be
used in conjunction with Rapid Ha.rdetiing Portland Cement a’nd
High Strength Ordinary Portland Ceneent, ‘High Alumina Ce.neent
may also be. used with certain precautions, at locations where maxi-
mum concrete temperature is not likely to rise above 18°Cat
any time during its service, life,

5,3, Admixtures
5,3, 1. Admixtu res for air—entrainment and/or accele rating
tIme strength development of concrete should conform to the requi-
rements of iS 9i03~i979: “Specification for Admixttires lb m Con—
c:rete’’.
5,3.2.. The dosage of calcium chloride, ‘when usedl as an
accelerator to promote early hardening of concrete, shoul.d not
exceed 2 per ce.nt by weight. of cc ment. ‘Calcium chloride should
b.c used in th.e form of solution prepared by diissOlvin.g 45 ‘kg of
g mnulated or fluked Calcium ehlom ide in 95 litres oh water Not
inure than 2 3 litres ol this solution should hi added pci 50 kg
bag of cement, and this solution should ‘b.c. treated as a part of

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II’kC 9I~1’4S~”

Ihe in ixing. n ater. Calcium dilo ride should he used nnly in case
of lil’ireinforcedi concrete pave ments.

a PRECAIJflONARV MEAsURES AGAINST EFFECTS OF COLD

WEA’rHaR CONCREFINC•~-~PRODUCTION,
PLACEMENT AND CURING
6.1 Wherever cold weather conditions are likely to arise

.
do ring concreting operations, all the needed cold weathe.r concre-
ting measures should he planned well in advance, of expected low
temperatures. [he necessary special equipment and materials
in nsf be available at work site before low temperatures occur,

6.2. Production
6,2.!. Concrete at the time of placing between the forms
should have, a. temperature o’f at least I 5°Cand not exceeding
32°C. This: may he done by preheating the materials—water and
aggregates. Estimation of temperature of freshly mixed concrete
from the temperatures and proportions of mix ingredients may
be’ made using correlations given in the Appendix.

62,2, In case concrete is to he heated during, mixing,

lie equipment used thould be. such as to heat the mass unithrmly
and should precludle the possibility of overheated zones which
mu iglit efl’e.c.~t the prope rtic’s ot concrete. Heating methods which
alter om prevent the entrainment of requiredl amount of air in the
concrete sho ulcI not he adlopted

62.3. For air tern perattire not lower than’—” 1 ‘°C,it may be
adeqi.ia te to Fica t the mixing water alone, Below this temnperature,
both water noel fine’ aggregate should be heated. When air temp-
ratures fail still lower, coarse aggregate should also he heated,
Ag.gne. gates should he heated in such a manner that frozen
lunips arc e.Iiminatedi and that overheating or excessive drying
is avoidedl, At no point should the. aggregate temperature exceed
100°C and the average temperature. of an individual batch of
aggregate shoul di ntot exceedi 66°C. The mixing water shoul dl also
not he heated beyond 66°C,

t52.4. When either aggregate or water is heated to a tenipe-

rature exceeding 38°C’, loading of mixer should he so carried out
that c’emne mit does not come in contact witl,m the hot n’iatenials To
ensure this, the heated material may first be fed in to the mixer
along with pant of the unheated material, and then cement and
remaining unheated material may he added,
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 WC: 91-1913
6.3. PSeeseat
6.3.1. The temperature 011 all surfaces to be in contact
with con ~reteshould be raised above the freezing point, and
they should be free of all Ice, snow, rrost, etc. No concrete should
be laid on a frozen subgrade or on that which contains frozen
material. The pavement foundation and subgrade should be prote..
fled against Frost prior to concreting. it should also be ensured that
it does not freeze when concrete Is laid. For this purpose, It
may ba protected by layers ofstraw or other Insulating materials,
or kept warm by means of braziers or other hot air equipment.
6.3.2. PrIor heating of concrete transporting equipment
to prevent fall in temperature during transportakn may be done
to prevent cooling~freezIng of concrete during transport to
the point of laying. This could be conveniently done by storing
the equipment in hot air enclosure or by means of steam
jets. Suitable covering should be provided over concrete
during transport if distance involved Is sizeable.
6.3.3. Transport and placement operations, including compac-
tion and finishing should be done as Ad as practicable to reduce
fall In temperature of concrete during the operations.
6.3.4. During pLacement of concrete, tarpaulin coven or
other readily removable covering should closely follow the
placing of concrete, so that only a tbw metres of the finished slab
are exposed to the outside air at any one time. The cove rinis may
be so arranged that heated air, where provided, may freely
circulate on top of the pavement. The coverings, may be further
covered by layers of straw or other insulating materials, no sooner
the wet concrete Is strong enough to take their load.
6.4. Curing
For curing of concrete in cold weather, operations, stipula-
tions of 1RC: 84-1983 “Code of PractIce for Curing of Cement Con-
crete Pavements” should be followed.
7. QUALifY CONTROL
7.1. Arrangements fbr covering or protecting newly placed
concrete should be adequate to maintain the recommended curing
temperatures and moisture conditions In all parts of the concrete.
As heated air is likely to be dry, all concrete surfaces should
be kcpt continuously moist.
7.2. Ii addition to quality control test for materials and

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IRC 914985
concrele as per 1RC: 15-1981 and IRC STh 11-1977 “Handbook of
Quality Control for Construction of Roads and Runways”,
regular tests, at least twice daily, should he conducted on air
content of concrete, as per procedure stipulated in IS: 1199-1959,
wherever air-entrained concrete is used,
7.3. Any concrete, frozen or showing signs of frost damage,
should he immediately removed and replaced with good quality
concrete, Such replacement should extend to a distance of at
least 30 cm beyond Ihe area noticed to be frozen in case of concrete,
which is slill in the plastic stage. in case of hardened concrete,
entire affected panels between adjacent expansion/contraction
joints should be removed and replaced.

S
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 1RC 91-1985

Appendix

ESTiMATiON OF lEMPERATURE OF FRESHLY MiXED CONCRETE

FROM THE TF.~MPERATURESAND PROPORTiONS’ OF THE Mix
INGREDIENTS

The tempera Lure Cl F Ireshty mixed concre Le can be est hnated from the
ernpe rat ares and prLlportions of he mis ingi:ediertts, usuig the torrnula e gi~en
below
4~rir nS’r F- W
t S f~l
1a t ~t C C 14, f,r Sir
U~
‘
I.’ ~ ~‘ li ‘ (
temperature or freshly mixed concrete (°C)
temperature of aggregale, cement and mixing water respectively

5~ 5’,, ~ stecihc heats o[ aggi ~gate.ern’;ent arid water respectively teal

g tit oC)
U Il r, II ‘~ ‘weight of a grep,ate, eerl’tent, ani::l water rest~ective1v(tig)
As £S’~~Sr :::...: 022, and 5, :“.: 1, tie forniula reduces to
0.22 (W,~t~+ W Ic) + Ww I,’
0.22 (K’ F l’1’ ~)+ H’
Aoli’ In case the aggregates contain sonic free water. itt; temperature will be
the same as that of the aggregate. Moreover, the waler added at i he
mixer will he adjusted in this case to allow for the free ‘tater ri the
aggregate, such that
• • (3)

wi li ~ ‘~ water added at the motor (temperature tw)

free water present in the aggregate. (tempera t Life I~)
0.22 (W,
1 Igs -+- W~ fri + FL tw F H’~~
~
— 022 (W,r4—Wc) + (Wrr,, ~..

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