3.

REPAIRS OF CONCRETE ROADS

Portland cement is used in construction of cement concrete pavements. Cement
Concrete pavements are considered to be the highest pavement type which can
withstand heavy traffic even under adverse sub grade and climatic conditions.
Portland cement is also being used in soil cement stabilization for the construction of
stabilized sub base or base courses. Now a days even reinforced cement as well as
prestressed concrete is also being used for the construction of cement concrete roads.
Rigid pavements are those which possess noteworthy flexural stress and flexural
rigidity. They are made of Portland cement plain! reinforced or prestressed concrete.
1. FAILURE IN CEMENT CONCRETE
PAVEMENTS:
"ailure of cement concrete pavements ate recognised mainly by the formation of
structural crac#ing$ the failures are mainly due to two factors%
&. 'eficiency of pavement materials.
(. )tructural inade*uacy of the pavement system.
A. Deficiency of paveen! a!e"ia#$:
"ollowing are the chief causes which would give rise to the different defects or
failures of cement concrete pavements%
i. )oft aggregates
ii. Poor wor#manship in +oint constructions.
iii. Poor +oint filler and sealer material
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iv. Poor surface finish
v. ,mproper and insufficient crac#ing
The various defects that creep in due to the above are%
i. 'isintegration of cement concrete.
ii. "ormation of crac#ing
iii. )palling of +oints
iv. Poor riding surface
v. )lippery surface
vi. "ormation of shrin#age crac#s
vii. ,ngress of surface water and further progressive failures.
%.S!"&c!&"a# ina'e(&acy of !)e paveen! $y$!e:
,nade*uate sub grade support or pavement thic#ness would be a ma+or cause of
developing structural crac#ing in pavements. "ollowing are the causes which develop%
&. ,nade*uate pavement thic#ness.
(. ,nade*uate sub grade support and poor sub grade soil.
-. ,ncorrect spacing of +oints.
.bove would give rise to the failure of the following types%
&. Crac#ing of slab corners
(. Crac#ing of pavement longitudinally
-. )ettlement of slabs.
/. 0idening of +oints.
1. 2ud pumping.
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Soe !ypica# fai#&"e$ in "i*i' paveen!$ a"e:
1. Sca#in* of ceen! conc"e!e
)caling is observed in cement concrete pavement showing overall deterioration
of the concrete. The scaling is mainly attributed due to deficiency in the mix or
presence of some chemical impurities which damage the mix$ further due to excessive
vibration given to the mix! the cement mortar comes to the top during construction
and thus with use! the cement mortar gets abraded exposing the aggregate of the mix.
This ma#es the pavement surface rough and shabby in appearance.
(. S)"in+a*e c"ac+$:
'uring the curing operation of cement concrete pavements immediately after the
construction! the shrin#age crac#s normally develop. The placement of crac#s is
in longitudinal as well as transverse direction.
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3. $pa##in* of ,oin!$:
)ometimes when preformed filler materials are placed during casting of pavement
slabs! the placement is somehow dislocated and the filler is thus placed at an angle.
The concreting is completed without noticing this faulty alignment of the filler
material. Thus this forms an overhang of concrete layer on the top side and +oint later
on shows excessive crac#ing and subsidence.
-. .a"pin* c"ac+$
,f the +oints are not well designed to accommodate the warping of slab at the
edges! this result in development of excessive stresses due to warping and the
slab develops crac#ing at the edges in an irregular pattern. 3inge +oints are
generally provided for relieving the slabs of warping stresses. There is no
structural defect due to warping crac#s if proper reinforcement is provided at
the longitudinal and transverse +oints as it ta#es care of the structural ade*uacy.
/
/. M&' p&pin*:
2ud pumping is recognised when the soil slurry e+ects out through the +oint
and crac#s of cement concrete pavements caused during the downward
movement of slab under the heavy wheel loads. "ollowing are the factors
which cause the mud pumping%
&. 4xtent of slab defection.
(. Type of sub grade soil.
-. .mount of free water.
Pumping is noticed +ust after the rains in cement concrete pavements that are placed
on the clayey soil sub grade. 'ue to the application of repeated loads! initial spaces
are developed underneath the pavement slabs and water infiltrates into these spaces
through +oint crac#s and edges of the pavement as shown in figure. )ince soil is also
fine grained type! it holds water and forms soil slurry or soil emulsion in water or
mud.
)ub se*uent application of the heavy wheel loads causes the pavement slab to deflect
at critical locations and also forces out part of mud each time! through the spaces in
pavement +oints! crac#s or edges. 0hen more and more mud is e+ected out there is a
substantial loss in the grained soil from sub grade! resulting in considerable loss of
sub grade support at these locations. 0ith continued traffic movements there is
progressive in the wheel load stress in the pavement slab due to the reduction in sub
grade supports conse*uently crac#s are developed and the pavement ultimately fails
1
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The pavement crac#ing due to the mud pumping generally is a progressive type of
failure in rigid pavements.
,nade*uate pavement thic#ness for the amount and type of vehicles is the prime
reason for the structural crac#ing. 5argely! the pavements are found to crac# at the
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corner and the edges. 5ongitudinal and transverse crac#s are also found to exist. ,t
becomes *uite difficult to differentiate the types of crac#s. 7enerally if it could be
decided that the crac# in the vicinity of the +oints are corners are not due to spalling or
pumping! then the crac#s is attributed to the tructural inade*uacy. The crac#ing in
the interior regions are mainly due to the temperature stresses.
0. MAINTENACE OF ROADS
,t may be stated here that very little maintenance such as maintenance of +oints
only is
needed for cement concrete roads! if they are well designed and constructed. . main
defect in this type of road is formation of crac#s. ,t is therefore necessary to examine
the crac#s and causes ascertained before any remedial measure is adopted.
A. T"ea!en! of c"ac+$
The crac#s developed in cement concrete 8cc9 may be classified into two groups
Temperature crac#s! which are initially fine crac#s or hair crac#s formed
across the slab! in between a pair of transverse or longitudinal +oint!
dividing the slab length into two or more approximately e*ual parts due to the
temperature stresses li#e the shrin#age stresses! warping stresses! etc therefore
before these crac#s get wide enough to permit infiltration of water! they
should be sealed off to prevent the infiltration of water! in the slab.
)tructural crac#s! formed near the edge and corner regions of the slabs due
to combined wheel load and warping stresses in the slab.
'ue to repeated application of heavy wheel load and the variations in temperature and
:
moisture conditions! the crac#s at the bottom portion get widened and further
deterioration becomes rapid. ;nce the surface water starts getting into the pavement
and the sub grade through the widened crac#s! progressive failure of the pavement is
imminent. Therefore before these crac#s get wide enough to permit infiltration of
water! they should be sealed off to prevent the infiltration of water! they should be
sealed off to prevent deteriorations.
The dirt! sand and other loose particles at the crac#s are thoroughly cleaned using a
sharp tool! stiff brush and pressure blower. <erosene oil is applied on the cleaned
crac#s to facilitate the proper bonding of the sealing material. The crac#s are then
filed by a suitable grade bituminous sealing compound. heated to li*uid consistency
. The sealer is placed upto about - mm above the level of the slab along the crac#s
and a layer of sand is spread over it to protect the sealer temporarily.
The formation of structural crac#s in CC slabs should be viewed seriously and needs
immediate attention! as these indicate possible beginning of pavement failure. "irst
the cause of failure should be investigated. ,f the failure is confined to one or a few
slabs only at a particular location! and in general there are no structural crac#s in
other slabs! the failure may be localized one due to some wea# spot in the sub grade
or due to localized settlement of the emban#ment or underground drainage problem.
The maintenance wor# in such a case involves first remedy of basic cause of failure
and then recasting the failed slab. ,n the case of general pavement distressed
indicating the start of structural failure of the pavement! immediate steps are to be
ta#en to strengthen the cc pavement by flexible or rigid overlay expeditiously before
the structural crac#s develop in other slabs also.
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,t is not worthwhile to provide an overlay over a badly crac#ed or failed cc pavement
as the riding surface becomes very unsatisfactory due to uneven settlement of the
crac#ed and bro#en slabs. ,n such case the only permanent solution is removal of
bro#en up cc pavement slabs and reconstruction of new flexible or rigid pavement.
%. Main!enance of ,oin!$:
>oints are the wea#est part in CC pavements. The efficiency of the pavement is
determined by the efficiency of the +oints. 2a+ority of the failure on the CC pavement
occur near or at the +oints. Therefore utmost care is to be ta#en to see that the filler
and the sealer materials are intact at the +oints. 'uring summer the +oint sealer is
s*ueezed out of expansion +oints due to the expansion of the slabs. )ubse*uently as
the slabs contract during winter time! the +oint gap opens out and crac#s are formed in
the old sealer material. Therefore periodic maintenance is essential. The opened up
+oints re cleaned up with the brush and refilled with the suitable +oint filler material
before the rain starts.
The +oint filler material at the expansion +oints may get damaged or deteriorated after
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several years of the pavement life. The repair consists of removal of the deteriorated
sealer and filer material from the expansion +oints cleaning up! replacement with new
filler board @provided with suitable grooves cut on bottom half at the position of the
dowel bars Aand sealing the top of the +oints with suitable sealer material. ,t will be
convenient to insert a new filler board at the expansion +oint during the winter season
when the +oint is opened the widest.
C. Specia# "epai"$ of !)e ceen! conc"e!e paveen!$:
2ud +ac#ing or lifting of slabs%
;nce the pavement starts pumping! the remedy for correcting it lies in providing
the effective drainage. ,f the subsidence is localized then the same is repaired by
patching the portion of slabs with bituminous mixes. .dvance countries adopt the
procedure of mud +ac#ing. The process consists of drilling a number of holes /cm to 1
cm diameter. &.1 to - m apart in the cement concrete slab. 7routing in such slabs is
done under pressure through these holes. The grout normally used is either &%-.1
cement sand mix or bitumen. "or cement sand mix the colloidal mix with sufficient
water is prepared. The mix is thus in+ected through a pressure hole using the
compressor. The slabs are thus raised from below by the pressure grout! upto the
desired level.
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