Cement a Good Additive for

Durable Economical Road

Construction

• By
• P L Bongirwar, M Tech, FNAE
• Former Principal Secretary PWD
• Advisor Larsen and Toubro
• roadcondition.jpg
• potholesrevised0001.pdf
 Usage of Cement
• Cement is oldest popular and economical additive
• Cement has tremendous potential in construction industry
• Cement is extensively used in Building and Bridge construction
• However use of cement for road construction is limited even
though has tremendous potential
• Improvement in concrete technology has enabled us to get cement
concrete of very high strength, early strength. Self compact
concrete requiring no vibration etc
• Usage of cement can create more durable roads requiring least
maintenance hence justifiable on criterion of life cycle cost
• Introduction of new equipment, additives , and new research has
narrowed d the gap between bituminous road and concrete roads
in terms of initial cost
 Infrastructure Development of NE
region
• Honorable Prime Minister has announced that
GOI intends to spend 1 lakh crores in next three
years in NE region for road improvement
• We need to develop new technologies which
allow local marginal materials
• By adopting cemented base and sub base we can
use 75% of marginal materials
• Paneled concrete with base and sub base of local
materials and CRCP can address the problems of
steep grade, sharp curves and heavy rainfall for
hilly areas
 Cement based Technologies
• Sub grade improvement using cement stabilization techniques
• Cemented drainage layer to get permeability of 350m/day
• Cemented base to reduce cost
• Continuous reinforced concrete pavement
• Precast Pretensioned panel concrete technology
• White topping
• Paneled concrete technology
• Self Compact Concrete for Village Roads
• Cement grouted Bituminous mix
• Grouted seal coat for conventional carpe
• Paneled concrete technology to revive old damaged village
roads
• Controlled low strength material for trech filling
 Urban Road Problems
• Urban Bituminous roads suffer damages in
Monsoon in the form of potholes and heavy
damage to surface
• This leads to slowing of trafic,accidents and
public criticism
• Heavy expenditure on temporary and permanent
repairs to give relief leads to public criticism
• Discomfort to public has lead to petition in court
and action taken by local authorities being
monitored by court
 Causes of Damage To Urban roads
• Flooding of roads due to inadequate storm water system
• Embankment being virtually absent the sub surface drain do
not function effectively
• The standing truck causes surface cracks allowing water to
enter damaging the road crust
• Frequent braking action and wearing coat not being designed
to sustain heavy tractive frequent force causes damages
specially at junction
• Not able to follow speciation for DBM /BC in respect of
maintaining temperature at laying and compaction
• Absence of god quality bitumen
• Bituminous treatment is not fuel spillage resistant
• Failure of research institutes/academicians to evolve
specifications to suit urban problems
 Types of Road Pavement

Pavement

Flexible Rigid

Composite
Flexible CGBM CRCP
Jointed Paneled

CGBM-Cemented Grouted Bituminous Macadam

Composite-Cemented Base and flexible Wearing Coat
CRCP-Continuously reinforced concrete Pavement
Flexible Pavement
 Subsurface drain-Important
recommendation
• An effective Subsurface drain is a must in stabilized soil sub base
technology and all categories of pavement
• 350 m per day is recommended value against about 20m by traditional GSB
• As per AASHTO if pavement system is saturated only 10 % of life ie one
month in a year it looses life by 50 %
• Either Bitumen bound (2 % bitumen) for grading 4 or voided concrete is
recommended
• Due to reduced thickness of bituminous layer layer the same would match
cost wise with GSB
• For urban area due to low embankment and adjoining
properties this is difficult to achieve
• Can we drain subsurface water in sewer underground drains ?
Study would show that it is economical
 Flexible Pavement-Options available
BC with VG 40 IRC 37 gives
BC with VG 40 thickness of
BC with VG 40 DBM with VG 40 different
DBM with VG 40 DBM with VG 40 RAP stabilized with layers for
emulsion/foam different sub
WMM
WMM bitumen grade and
Cement Bound designed
Cement Bound
GSB drainage layer traffic
Drainage layer
Cemented GSB
Sub grade Cemented GSB
Sub grade Top BC can be
Sub grade
replaced by
By increasing CBR from 10% to 15% by cement stabilisation cost Gap Graded
reduction of 10% can be achived High Binder
CMHB mix
Due to cemented base and subbbase 15% cost reduction is
possible
 Jointed Rigid Pavement
• Advantages
i. Reduced recurring maintenance cost and preferred by public for urban
roads and village roads
ii. Lifecycle cost for even 15 years compared to flexible pavement less-
Already observed in MPE Leads to fuel saving
iii. Not dependable on imported bitumen
Disadvantage
i. Riding quality inferior compared to bituminous road, higher noise pollution
ii. High-speed drive leads to higher temerature and if tyres are worn out the
incidence of tyre bursting
iii. Require higher supervision, better compaction for embankment and
difficult to repairs. Cannot open to traffic immediately
iv. Sensitive to overloading and temperature Higher initial cost compared to
bituminous road
Deficiencies can be addressed by new
technology and new material
 Continuous reinforced concrete roads
CRCCRCP
3025 Rs per Square
meter Concrete
Jointed Road 3070
Rs square meterP
3025 Rs per Square meter Concrete
Jointed Road 3070 Rs square meter

In this technology joints are virtually eliminated and steel

reinforcement is given and thus riding quality improves
A bituminous overlay also is recommended which
improves the riding quality and substantially reduce noise
pollution
The UK design philosophy allows reduction in thickness
hence cost is comparable to jointed rigid pavement
Several kilometer of CRCP roads are constructed in Pune in
hilly terain,steep grade, heavy rainfall and trucks carrying
heavily loaded materials
 Paneled concrete

Paneled concrete-1900
Rs/sqm
Flexible Pavement-1927
Rs/sqm

Can be adopted for new road or existing bituminous road carrying

heavy traffic
Requires closely spaced joints of max 1.5 m*1.5 m
Self compact concrete, thin joint and other construction techniques
would improve the riding quality
May not require renewal or strengthening overlay
Revised SP 76 has fully covered
Funding for applied research for improving the technology is
needed
 Precast Pretension panels

Advantages-Minimal mobilization of heavy equipment from site-to-site with no capital

investment for automatic paving equipment, dump trucks, spreaders, finishers, etc.
Controlled process in fabrication of panels. Fabrication and finishing of concrete panels take
place at the different precasting site.
Better concrete product with greater achievable strength, minimal variation in strength, and a
better concrete curing method that can assure quality concrete.
Steady production of panels, up to 24 hours a day, with no delay during the rainy season. 7
Thinner concrete pavement in comparison to Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP), which
would reduce the cost of construction. Post-tensioning wire strands are relatively cheap.
Better construction sequences once the pavement base or sub base is in place. This will
eliminate issues with dowel baskets, tining, in-place curing, etc.
Long-lasting and durable pavement.
 Rigid Pavement
• Jointed Rigid Pavement
• Continuous reinforced concrete pavement with and without BC
overlay
• Paneled concrete-Concrete overlay with closely spaced joint-for
new Road/Existing Road
• Low Volume Concrete Road a)up to 50CVD,b)50 to 150 CVD
c)150 to 450 CVD
• Grouted BM-Voided Bituminous Macadam to be grouted with
high strength grout
M40 or above high grade Thickness of different layers can be
concrete worked out based on designed
DLC traffic, grade of concrete and joint
spacing
WMM
GSB In paneled concrete panel size
Sub grade could be 75*75 to 175*200 CM
 Paneled concrete/White toping
• The technology of putting concrete overlay on existing
bituminous surface called white topping/paneled concrete is
getting widely accepted
• More than 100 km of such roads completed in Mumbai, Thane
Nagpur and Pune
• As maintenance cost is minimum this has become accepted
mode. In Pune it is decided to do all roads below 12m width
with this technology only
• All design and construction methodology is covered in SP 76
• You have to asses the strength of existing road and design the
thickness of overlay which may workout to 12 to 15cm Panele
size is reduced to 1.25*1.25 m hence temperature stresses
virtually is absent hence reduced thickness
Paneled concrete for Heavy density road

• Even though the is developed for urban low volume

road as overlay over the existing bituminous road ,but
this can be adopted for heavy density roads as well as
for new roads where properly designed GSB, WMM and
DLC can be given as base
• The revised code of SP 76 describe the technology fully
• It is seen that cost of flexible pavement for 100MSA and
paneled concrete is same .As paneled concrete can be
designed for 30 years it will not require renewal or
overlay and hence overall it will be much economical
 Paneled Concrete for Heavy density roads
• There are several examples of adoption of this
technology for heavy density roads
• Bangalore ring roads and several roads in Pune such as
Shivaji Nagar bus stand are few examples
• In Nagpur outer ring roads two trial stretches each of
250m for totally new road are laid and found to be
successful
• Prove ideal in poor drainage conditions and specially with
very low embankment specially in urban situations
• Concrete technology is fully developed to get strength of
M 50 and above in 24 hrs and hence road can be opened
in 48 hrs
 Paneled concrete

Paneled concrete-1900
Rs/sqm
Flexible Pavement-1927
Rs/sqm

Can be adopted for new road or existing bituminous road carrying

heavy traffic
Requires closely spaced joints of max 1.5 m*1.5 m
Self compact concrete, thin joint and other construction techniques
would improve the riding quality
May not require renewal or strengthening overlay
Revised SP 76 has fully covered
Funding for applied research for improving the technology is
needed
Summary of stresses
 Economics
50mmBC 200 mm Paneled Concrete M40
110 mm DBM 75 MM BM/ 100mmDLC
250mm WMM 250 mm WMM
200mm GSB 200mm GSB
500 mm Sub grade 500 mm sub grade

100 MSA ,1927 /sqm >200 MSA 1900 /sqm

BC 10100,DBM 8600,WMM 1120,GSB 980,M40 5000-Per Cub

m
Over View of Finished Rigid Pavement
Bus Stand TWT Pune
 Case Study-Mankar Town urban
road,Burdwan district,WB
• Urban roads generally have low embankment
and poor drainage conditions
• Blacktopped roads therefore suffer heavy
damages
• Short paneled concrete roads could be cost
effective durable pavement
Exiting Road
 Typical construction
150 mm M40 grade of concrete with panels of 1m*1m and joit cut upto 50mm depth
100mm M 10 base
Existing road
Completed Road
Trial Stretch planned by Prof Pande

!80mm Thick M40 grade paneled concrete

with panels of 1m*1m 2kg/cub me recorn
fibres or 1kg of Polyproplene per cubic meter
200GSM geotextile for bond braking
150mm cemented drainage layer with 2.25 %
cement 7 MPa at seven days
150mm cemented filter layer with 2.5 to 3%
cement 3 MPa at 7 days

Maximum flexural stress is 2.72 MPa at the end of design

period
Adoption of Self compact concrete for
village roads

SCC with 290kgcement,200kg fly ash

with additive having cost of 1900 per
cubic meter
Eliminated need of vibration, PVC strip
eliminated need of Joint cutting and
sealing
Investment in equipment 9 Lakhs
Controlled low Strength Material
-CLSM
 CLSM-Definition
CLSM is a self-compacted, cementitious material
used primarily as a backfill as an alternative to
compacted fill.
ACI:116R: Defines CLSM, as material that results
in a compressive strength of 8.3 MPA or less
CLSM should not be considered as a type of low
strength concrete but rather a self compacted
backfill material.
 Controlled Low Strength Mateial-
Potential application
• Back filling in trenches-Trenches made to lay new services
are backfilled by same materials Being narrow compaction
not possible hence settles continuously requiring frequent
maintenance Trenches prposed to be filled in with CLSM
which is highly self leveling flow able grout and does not
require compaction It fills into side crevices offering friction
of sides to support load hence trench does not settle
• Side strips of concrete roads made bituminous or paver block
surface for ease to lay future services Due to improper
compaction of backfill material after laying services the side
strips get totally distorted and hence not useful to traffic
Base in both cases proposed with CLSM and restoration after
laying services by CLSM
 Mix Design
Material Qty-KG/Cub M Brand
Cement 50
FlyASH 200 PARAS
Micro Silika 0
20mm 313
10mm 364
R Sand 0
Crushed Sand 567
Water 195
Admixture 1.5 Mlab 24+CF b
Density 1692
Lab trial-Initial flow
Trench filling -Kothrud
 Conclusion
• Conclusions
• 1. Panelled concrete pavements can be a good alternative for
reducing the cost of concrete pavements for built up areas, rural
roads, bus bays etc.
• 2. Stresses are reduced drastically in concrete pavements with
panels of size 1.0 m × 1.0 m.
• 3. If alternative route can be arranged, this type of pavement is very
easy to construct with much higher durability than Mastic Asphalt
surfaced bituminous pavement; and the serviceability is expected
to be same as conventional rigid pavement at much lower cost.
• 4. This technology can emerge as a good long-term solution to the
perpetual maintenance problem of the roads with poor drainage.
 Cement Grouted Bituminous
Macadam
• Urban roads get heavily damaged mainly in rainy
season due to frequent braking action
• Transverse tensile force caused due to heavy
braking force is the cause of leakage of moisture
and hence damage
• We need surface which is water tight and resist
frequent tractive force
• It is difficult to maintain temperature at laying
and compaction resulting into inadequate
compaction
 Cement Grouted Bituminous Macadam
• Tradiotnal Wearing coat
a) BC with 50 mm 550 Rs square meter
b) Mastic asphalt 700 Rs Sq meter
c) Paver laid Mastic 1200 Rs sq meter
d) Concrete top surface 1600 Rs sq m
e) Paneled concrete 900 Rs Sq m
f) Paver block on top 800 Rs sq m
Cement grouted bituminous Macadam consist of 40 mm
Bituminous Macadam with 3.5% bitumen in which voids are
filled with high strength grout making it water tight and
resistant to tractive force
Cost of CGBM could be 540 to 610 Rs per sq m
 CGBM Technology
• In this technology on a voided bituminous mix
containing 25 to 30 % voids a highly flow able
grout having strength of M 40 is poured
• The grout flows into voids due to gravity and
make surface water tight and also enhances
engineering properties of mass
• Surat Municipal Corporation adopted for last ten
years and completed more than 100 Kilometer
and are not having any potholes
• New IRC guidelines recommend up to 30 MSA and
for renewal coat and found economical at least by
10 % compared to fllexible pavement
Cleaning with compressor
BM laying and Compaction
Grout preparation and pouring
Grouted Seal Coat over 20 mm
Carpet
 Gradation for carpet
• Normal gradation for carpet
I. 2/3 material passing through 22.4 and
retained on 11.2
II. 1/3 material fully passing through 13.2 and
retained on 5.6 mm sieve
The above provision changed to create more
voids
100 % passing through 22.4 and fully retained on
11.2 mm sieve
High strength flowable grout used instead of
bituminous seal coat
Rolling after pouring grout
Metalled and heavily damaged village roads

More photos of Amravati

 Finite Element Analysis
Thickness 50mm Thickness 75 mm
Concrete 50/75
mm Panel size Edge Panel Edge
Stresses size stresses
WBM=150mm,E 0.5*0.5 6.59 0.5*0.5 3.87
250 Mpa 0.75*0.75 8.28 0.75*0. 5.65
75
Sub grade 150 1.0*1.0 8.34 1.0*1.0 6.30
mm ,E=100 Mpa
1.2*1.2 8.42 1.2*1.2 6.49
Sub grade 8%
CBR e50 Mpa
 Economics of Grouting Technology
Case1 Case2 Case3 Case a1 Casea2 Case a3

Panel size 75*75 100*100 100*100 75*75 100*100 100*100

Thickness 75 100 75 75 100 75
Grade M30 M30 M40 M30 M30 M40
Flexural 4.2 4.2 4.9 4.2 4.2 4.9
strength
Actual srtr 4.1 4.05 4.6 4.1 4.05 4.6
WBM QTY 213.75 285 213.75 213.75 285 213.75
Grout Qty 53.45 71.3 53.45 64.13 85.5 64.13
CostGrout+ 4.67 5.37 4.65 5.28 6.17 5.31
Strip
Cost /sqm 197.6 226.8 196.4 219 257 221
Grout rate in Rs/Cub m M 30- 5661 , M40 6201
Grout Mix Cement 42%,Flyas 22%,Crushed sand 22%
Admixture 0.6%,Hdpe Strip 18 R/m
Road Length 750m,width 3.75m
Important stages of Lab Expt
 Grout Cubes and Cores

PMGSY (Grout Mix)

Flow retention (min) Compressive Strength (28 days)
Cement Total Crushed Admixture Dosage
Date G2 (%) G3 (%) Flyash Free W/C
(OPC ACC %) Water.(%) Sand(%) 1 (bwb%)
Cube strength Core strength
5 60
(50 mm x 50 mm) (70 mm Dia)
14/01/2014 50.0 50.00 42 22 0.22 15 21 Glenium 51 0.60% 800 750 77.57 72.2 41.89 39.78
 Development of grout
• Technology would be economically successful if
high strength flow able grout at economic cost is
developed
• Quantity of grout is function of voids and
thickness of layer to be grouted Both can be
controlled to reduce cost
• A grout to develop cube strength of M60
developed
• Cost of grout for core strength of M 30
5600Rs/cubic meter and For M 40 6100 Rs per
cubic meter
Trial Stretch of grouting
technology
By
P L Bongirwar
• A small road of about 80m as trial stretch in
Vasai Taluka in Thane district is done
• Carry lot of building material trucks as
bricks,sand,crushed aggregate etc
 Removing deficiencies of Concrete roads
• Riding quality, noise pollution and tyre bursting-Adopt
specially designed 25 mm Open graded bituminous overlay
• Early opening-A specially developed high grade concrete is
developed which can achieve M60 strength in 24 hours
• Improving surface-Adopt self compact concrete to ensure
proper dense concrete and surface in line and level
• Joint improvement-Reduce joint width, use recompressed seal
rubber, cold sealant-Improve riding comfort
• Cost reduction-Adoption of high volume fly ash and
developing new additives, Two lift concrete
• Technology for precast pretension panel to be encouraged
and a tender for 10 kilometer be invited
 Topics for research on Concrete Roads
• 1 ) Behavior and design principles of CRCP concrete
• 2) Voided DLC as a base for new high density concrete with paneled concrete
• 3) Low strength concrete DLC and its effect on rigid pavement behavior
• 4) Cement grouted bituminous macadam
• 5) High volume fly ash concrete for road pavement
• 6) Review of specifications for road construction if the base is rocky
• 7) Use of polymer fibers and steel fibers for improvement in concrete
properties
• 8) Evolving new fatigue equation in fiber concrete as it improves the ductility
• 9) Stresses caused due to temperature and temperature variation along
depth
• 10) FEM model for rigid pavement and panel concrete
• 11) Evaluation of fatigue life of different layers
• 12) Bituminous overlay over concrete pavement
• 13) Design and construction philosophy for prestressed precast concrete
panels
• 14) stabilized soil base instead of concrete DLLC
• Outcome of above research would not only reduce cost, material
consumption but would remove the deficiencies of present technology which
will lead to better acceptability of technology
 Conclusion and Recommendation for
CGBM
• Cement Grouted Bituminous Mix Technology is
econmical,easy to adopt and found effective by Surat
Municipal Corporation
• There is need for developing better construction technology
and equipment to improve quality
• Proper Quality assurance manual, testing
procedure,spefication inclusion in DSR has to be initiated
• Development of dry powder for grout ,encouraging
commercial units to produce and equipment for dry uniform
mixing with other ingredients has to be taken on priority
• Paneled concrete is definitely economical alternate for urban
roads for light aand heavy traffic
 General Recommendations
• Virtually no funds are available from Government for applied
research/sponsered projects
• Trial stretches are not allowed and discouraged
• Engineers and Govt departments are hesitant to adopt technologies
included in code. We must do more pilot/demonstration projects
• Academic institutes are not geared to do research They can not
maintain the time table In most institutes there is no incentive to
academicians
• Most of the academic institute do not own modern testing
equipments and do not have sources to procure
• Cement Industry also are not giving any money for planned research
• There is need to develop new equipments to ease in application of
these technologies specially CGBM
• Equipment is required for thin joint cutting
• Detailed working construction specifications as well as quality
assurance manual must be prepared for proper implementation