Roller-Compacted Concrete For Ports PDF

PAVEMENTS
Roller-Compacted Concrete for Ports
Use of Roller-Compacted Concrete Pavements

for Container Terminals
Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) is a zero-slump concrete consisting
of dense-graded aggregate and sand, cementitious materials, and
water. The use of RCC as a material to construct pavements began in
the 1970’s in Canada. In the past 25 years it has gained acceptance
as a strong and durable pavement material that can withstand heavy
loads and severe climates with little required maintenance.
The use of RCC for pavements at industrial facilities such as port and
intermodal container terminals is particularly appropriate because of
the ability to construct low-cost concrete pavements over large
areas, allowing flexibility in terminal operations over time. Two basic
pavement designs are used which incorporate RCC: 1) unsurfaced,
where high-strength concrete is used as the surface layer, and
2) asphalt surfaced, where lower-strength concrete is used as a Completed RCC slab.
pavement base and an asphalt layer is used for the wearing surface.
The Port of Virginia Builds RCC Pavement

for Tough Duty
The Virginia Port Authority recently completed construction of a
roller-compacted concrete (RCC) pavement for a large container
storage and handling area at the Norfolk International Terminals
(NIT) in Norfolk, Virginia. This project is part of continuing expansion
at the port; currently the 2nd busiest on the east coast in terms of
general tonnage. The NIT South Backlands Project – Stage I included
26 acres of RCC pavement 16.5 inches thick (57,300 cubic yards of
concrete), topped with 3 inches of asphalt to allow for adjustments
to future differential settlement.
The Norfolk office of Moffatt and Nichol was the engineer for the
design and construction of the facility. Pavements for port facilities
must be strong and durable because of the heavy loading of the Rutting in asphalt pavement caused by channelized loading.
container handling equipment that can have wheel loads of
30-60 kips per tire. In addition, the channelized traffic can cause
significant pavement distress.
www.cement.org/pavements
Paving top lift within 1 hour of bottom lift placement. Quality control check using pavement cores after 7 days.
Because of the large pavement area, cost was a significant factor. compaction, and taking cores to check for bonding, thickness,
Moffatt and Nichol evaluated several possible pavement strategies, and strength.
including asphalt, conventional concrete, concrete paver blocks, and
RCC. An overall evaluation of strength, cost, time of construction, The overall experience of the project was positive. The final cost
and expected performance resulted in RCC being selected. The ($42 per square yard) and especially the time required for construction
design pavement strength was 450 psi flexural strength in 7 days, (2.2 days per acre) resulted in a lower cost and faster construction
which related to a construction specification of 2,500 psi compres- than other comparable paving projects at the NIT. This is not surprising
sive strength in 7 days. since RCC has been successfully used at the Port of Boston (Conley
Terminal), Port of Los Angeles (Pier 300), and for container facilities
The paving contractor for the project was A.G. Peltz Group, at rail-truck intermodal yards in Denver, Colorado (Burlington
Birmingham, Alabama. The mix consisted of 3,470 lbs of dense- Northern) and Calgary, Alberta (Canadian National). The use of RCC
graded aggregate (1/2 inch nominal maximum aggregate size) and at the NIT is expected to continue, with a project for another 20 acres
400 lbs portland cement per cubic yard. Water content was 6.2% currently under contract.
(by weight) of the dry components. The RCC was mixed on-site with
an Aran pug mill operating at 400 tons per hour. Three ABG Titan
pavers were used during construction. One model 511 with a More Information
hydraulic variable screed was used to pave special widths. Another
model 511 and a model 525 were used for large area paving, PCA offers a broad range of resources on soil-cement and roller-
placing concrete 30 feet wide per pull. compacted concrete applications for pavements. Visit our Web site at
www.cement.org/pavements for design and construction guidelines,
The total 16.5 inch RCC thickness was placed in two lifts. Construc- technical support, and research on cement-modified soils, cement-
tion specifications called for bonding between the two layers, so treated base, and full-depth reclamation. For local support, tap into
the second lift had to be placed within 1 hour of the bottom lift. the cement industry's network of regional groups covering the United
Quality control procedures included density measurements during States. Contact information is available at www.cement.org/local.
An organization of cement companies to

improve and extend the uses of portland
cement and concrete through market
development, engineering, research,
education, and public affairs work.
www.cement.org/pavements
© 2006 Portland Cement Association

All rights reserved PL620

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PAVEMENTS

Roller-Compacted Concrete for Ports

Use of Roller-Compacted Concrete Pavements

The Port of Virginia Builds RCC Pavement

An organization of cement companies to

© 2006 Portland Cement Association

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