Interlocking Concrete block pavementNew trend in Construction

Interlocking Concrete block

pavement

Introduction
Pavement design and structure
Advantages and Limitations
Application of ICBP technology
Materials used in ICBP
Construction of ICBP

Introduction

Pavement design and Structure

General points regarding design of

pavement
Quality of sub grade is often measured by special
test known as CBR. Moisture content and density
of materials will change the CBR values.
Depending upon the traffic loading and ability of
sub grade to carry the load, the thickness of sub
base or base course is decided.
The base course thickness can vary with the
design conditions from 0 to 300 mm but most
widely used are 75 mm to 200 mm.
Before starting of construction two other aspects
materials and drainage are required to be
considered

Advantages of ICBP
Mass production, ensures availability of block having consistent
quality and high dimensional accuracy
Good quality blocks ensures durable pavement when
constructed as per design and specification
ICBP tolerates higher deflections without structural failure, will
not get affected by thermal expansion and contraction
ICBP does not require curing and hence pavement can be put
into service immediately
Construction of pavement is labour intensive and requires very
few equipments.
The system provides ready access to underground utilities
without damage to pavement.
Maintenance of ICBP pavement is easy and simple
Use of coloured blocks facilitates permanent markings.
Low life cycle cost
Provides resistance to punching loads and horizontal shear
force caused by movement of heavy vehicles.

Limitations of ICBP
Quality control of block at the factory premises is
very much necessary
Any deviations of base course profile will get
reflected on ICBP. Hence proper supervision is
required.
High quality, graded coarse sand and joint filling
sand are essential for good performance
ICBP over unbound granular base course is
susceptible to the adverse effects of poor
drainage and will deteriorate faster
ICBP is not suitable for high speed roads
(Speeds over 60 Km/Hr)

Applications of ICBP Technology

Non traffic areas - Building premises, Footpaths, malls,
Pedestrian plaza, Monument premises, Public
gardens/Parks, Shopping complex, Parking areas, and
railway platforms
Light traffic - Car park, Office driveway, Housing colony
roads, Rural roads, Residential colony roads,
Farmhouses etc.
Medium traffic - City streets, small market roads,
Intersection, Low volume roads, Service stations etc.
Heavy and Very heavy traffic Container, Bus terminals,
Port/Dock areas, Roads in Industrial buildings, Airport
pavement

Materials- Paver Block

Produced with zero slump concrete
Available in different shapes and colours
Quality of the block will depend upon capacity of
compaction, grade of cement used, water content,
quality of aggregates used and their gradation
and mix design, admixtures used, handling
equipments used, curing method adopted, level of
supervision during production, workmanship and
quality control achieved etc.
Specification of materials used for preparation of
block, physical test method, sampling and
acceptance criteria has already been formulated
in IS 15658:2006, & IRC SP 63:2004

Shapes and colours for paving block

Type A Paver block with plane vertical face, which
do not key into each other when paved in any
pattern.
Type B Paver block with alternating plain and
curved/corrugated vertical face, which key into each
other along the curved/corrugated vertical face when
paved in any pattern .
Type C Paver block having all faces
curved/corrugated which key into each other along all
vertical faces when paved in any pattern
Type D L & X shaped paver block which have all
faces curved or corrugated and which key into each
other along all vertical faces when paved in any
pattern

Red

Grey

Charcoal

Tan
Brown

Bedding and Joint filling sand

The selection of material as bedding and
joint filling sand is very vital.
Joint filling sand must be relatively finer
than the bedding sand.
It is necessary to restrict the fines (clay
and silt) to 10 % in joint filling sand.
Dont used cement to fill the joints.
Joint filling sand must be dry.

Base and Sub base materials

Base and sub base material requirements will depend upon traffic loading
expected and sub grade strength.
Grading- For better interlock and ease of construction, Number of broken
faces - For better interlock, Crushing resistance- to prevent breaking of
stone particles, Soundness- For durability, Nature and quantity of fine
particles in the aggregate or sand, desired drainage characteristics are
need to be considered.
Factors like local availability, economy, climatic and environmental factors
will detect the selection of materials
Commonly used materials are

Unbound crushed rock

Water bound macadam
Wet mix macadam
Cement bound crushed rock
Lean cement concrete

Quality of sub base material should be in conformance with IRC-37.

Commonly used materials for sub base are
Cement treated gravel
Sand
Stabilized materials

Sequencing of operations for ICBP

Step 1 - Installation of sub surface drainage works
Step 2 - Leveling and Compaction of sub grade
Step 3 - Provision and Compaction of Sub base course
(When needed)
Step 4 - Provision and Compaction of base course &
Checking of correct profile
Step 5 - Installation of edge restraints
Step 6 - Provision and Compaction of coarse bedding sand
Step 7 - Laying of blocks and interlocking
Step 8 - Application of joint filling sand and compaction
Step 9 - Cleaning the surface
Step 10 - Filling any remaining empty portions in the block
layer especially near edge restraints block with in situ
concrete.

Step 1 - Installation of sub surface

drainage works
Normally drains are sub surface drains and must
be surrounded by either filter aggregate or
geotextiles to avoid washing of bedding and
joining sand.
Except pedestrian open areas the pavement
surface should have a cross fall of at least 3 %
and top of the blocks next to drainage channels
should be at least 10 mm above lip of the
channel.
In pedestrian open areas the pavement surface
should have a cross fall of at least 1.25 % and
top of the blocks next to drainage channels
should be at least 3 mm above lip of the
channel.

Step 2 - Leveling and Compaction

of sub grade

Importance of sub grade

Importance of compaction of sub grade
Compaction near trenches, back fills etc.
The preparation of sub grade should be graded to a tolerance
of 20 mm of design levels and its surface evenness should
have tolerance of 15 mm under a 3 m straight edge
Moisture content in the sub grade material will affect the
strength. Hence water table should not be at a level of 600
mm or higher below the sub grade level. In case of soils like
clay and silt moisture must be removed before further rolling.
After that it is covered with a thin layer of dense base course.
The layer is then rolled.
Stabilization of sub grade with lime or cement may also
increase the strength of sub grade.
Sub grade should be compacted in layers either 150 or 100
mm thickness as per IRC guidelines

Step 3 & 4 Provision and Compaction of Base and

Sub base course & Checking of correct profile
Base course and Sub base course are required to be
constructed with IRC:SP:49-1998, IRC:SP:50-1973,
IRC:SP:63-1976, IRC:19-1997, IRC:37-2001.
Quality control specified in IRC:SP:11 for construction of lower
layers.
The base course is directly laid over the sub grade with the
thickness of each layer should not be more than 100 mm
compacted thickness.
For weaker sub grades there are other options
Improved drainage
Cement of Lime stabilization
Use of Geotextiles

Base course should be finished within +0 mm to -10 mm for

level. It should not pond water and should be well shaped. Do
not rely on sand bedding for removal of unevenness

 For compaction usually vibratory plate

compactors are used. The selection of vibratory
plate compactors is very vital.
Number of passes for effective compaction will
depend upon the various factors like compactor
capacity, speed of compactor, base course
material properties, moisture content and layer
thickness.
Normally vibratory compactors will loose top
material of base course and hence after applying
the required number of passes, 4 passes of
regular roller or plate compactor without
vibratory motion should be given
The compaction of material around manholes,
kerbs, service boxes must be done carefully.

Step 5 - Installation of edge restraints

Must be produced with high
quality concrete with at least
28 day characteristic
compressive strength of 30
N/mm2 and Flexural strength
3.8 N/mm2
Road kerbs, Edge strips,
PCC of 150 mm X 150 mm
can also be used as edge
restraints
The gap between the two
edge restraint block is
required to be closed with
cement mortar of 1:6
proportion.

Step 6 - Provision and Compaction

of coarse bedding sand
Thickness of bedding sand in loose form must be 25-50 mm
and in compacted form 20-40 mm.
Sand must be laid in uniform thickness
Grades and cambers must provided in the sub grade and
base course it self and not in the bedding sand.
Sand is required to be spread with screed board
Bedding sand must have uniform moisture content of 6 to 8
%. Hence regular checking of moisture content in sand is
important.
Before placing the sand take a trial to decide the surcharge
for a typical sand.
Required quantity of sand for a days work must be stored in
advance and must be covered with tarpaulin sheets or any
other suitable material.
After laying proper compaction of bedding sand is required

Step 7 - Laying of blocks and

interlocking
Block should be laid on 5 mm screed provided with bedding
sand material
Dont place block on compacted or saturated sand
Normally laying should commence from edge strip and
proceed towards centre. Also as far as possible laying should
be done only from one direction along the entire width of the
area paved.
While locating the starting line following points must be
considered
On a sloping site start from lowest point and proceed to up slope.
In case of irregular shaped edge restrains or strips it is better to start
from straight string line as shown in fig

Gap between the two blocks are not less than 2 mm and not
more than 4 mm. The blocks very popularly laid in three
patterns

Step 8 - Application of joint filling

sand and compaction
Dont wet block and wet sand.
Joint filling sand must be properly graded as per guidelines.
For compaction vibratory plate compactors are used. Heavy
plate compactors with a weigh between 300 to 600 kg and
apply a centrifugal force in the range 30 to 65 KN are
preferred over standard plate compactors (90 Kg Weight, 15
KN force, 0.3 m2 plate area)
Alternative to this is apply 2 passes of standard plate
compactor and then apply 2 to 6 passes of a roller, Vibrating
roller (With static weight less than 4 tonne, amplitude less
than 0.6 mm), Or Pneumatic tyre roller (6 tonne or heavier)
There should not be delay in compaction after laying of
paving blocks.
The surface tolerance of individual layers must be as per
table