Material and Construction Optimization for Prevention of Premature Pavement Distress in PCC Pavements

The major pooled-fund project, Material and Construction Optimization for Prevention of Premature Pavement Distress in PCC Pavements (MCO, TPF 5[066]), ended its five-year run in fall 2007. The overall objectives of this study were

to evaluate conventional and new methods for testing concrete and concrete materials to prevent material and construction problems that could lead to premature concrete pavement distress and
to examine and refine a suite of tests that can accurately evaluate concrete pavement properties.

The products listed below all came out of the 17-state pooled-fund MCO project:

IMCP Manual
Testing Guide
Test Summaries
AVA Hyperdoc
Coffee Cup Test Procedure
Hydration Poster
IMCP Workshop Videos
IMCP Workshop Participant Handbook
Online Training Modules
IMCP Manual Technical Summaries

IMCP Manual

The Integrated Materials and Construction Practices for Concrete Pavement: A State-of-the-Practice Manual helps project and field engineers, mix designers, technicians, materials experts, construction supervisors, and foremen integrate their processes in ways that will optimize concrete's performance in concrete paving projects. The manual is available for download (18 mb pdf).

Testing Guide

The Testing Guide for Implementing Concrete Pavement Quality Control Procedures helps users execute and interpret the suite of tests developed and vetted during the MCO project. The guide is available for download (6 mb pdf).

Test Summaries

These documents supplement the testing guide (508 compliant versions will be available soon).

Concrete Property Suite of Tests

These 3 summaries organize the tests by concrete property and project type to help users select the appropriate test for any situation.

Level A 127 kb pdf
Level B 126 kb pdf
Level C118 kb pdf

Individual Tests

AVA Hyperdoc

The Air-Void Analyzer Hyperdocument (AVA Hyperdoc) is a multimedia training document that walks technicians through air-void analyzer (AVA) testing. It offers video clips, photos, and illustrations that lead users from setting up the equipment to interpreting AVA test results. The AVA Hyperdoc is available on DVD from the CP Tech Center. Contact Denise Wagner (515-294-5798, dfwagner@iastate.edu) to request a copy.

Coffee Cup Test Procedure Video

This instructional video demonstrates the “coffee cup test,” or cementitious heat generation test. The rather simple test helps contractors monitor the uniformity of their cementitious materials. This video is available on DVD from the CP Tech Center. Contact Denise Wagner (515-294-5798, dfwagner@iastate.edu) to request a copy.

Hydration Poster

Download the Stages of Hydration poster (9 mb pdf).

IMCP Workshop Videos

Visit this page to watch the videos of the presentations given during the IMCP workshop hosted by Iowa Department of Transportation on April 4-5, 2007.

IMCP Workshop Participant Handbook

The participant handbook (13 mb pdf) is part of a package of training deliverables for an FHWA workshop based on Integrated Materials and Construction Practices for Concrete Pavement: A State-of-the-Practice Manual.

The participant handbook consists of the following elements:

Workshop agenda
Workshop evaluation form
General workshop information
For all 10 modules:
- An introduction
- Printout of presentation slides with space for note-taking
A set of technical summaries (Appendix A)

Online Training Modules

The National Highway Institute (NHI) is offering free online training modules, designed by the CP Tech Center, based on the IMCP Manual. With these modules, you will be able to get the concrete pavement knowledge you need from your own computer at your own pace.

The Durability module is available now. More modules will become available as they are converted to web-based training. Look for more modules under the "Web Course" icon in the right-hand column of the NHI homepage.

Visit the NHI homepage and use your email address and some basic information to sign up for a username and password. Find a module and go through the "checkout" process to view the training. Find more information about signing up for the online training (pdf).

IMCP Manual Technical Summaries

A set of technical summaries of chapters 1 through 10 was developed to provide a general overview of information in the manual and introduce its important concepts. To be useful as training documents, the technical summaries should be used in conjunction with the manual.

1—Introduction to the IMCP Manual (562 kb pdf)
2—Concrete Pavement Design (781 kb pdf)
3—Concrete Materials Basics (317 kb pdf)
4a—Cement Hydration: The Basics (483 kb pdf)
4b—Materials Incompatibilities (176 kb pdf)
5a—Plastic (Fresh) Concrete Properties (416 kb pdf)
5b—Hardened Concrete Properties (Durability) (427 kb pdf)
5c—Early-Age Cracking (312 kb pdf)
6—Development of Concrete Mixtures (271 kb pdf)
7—Preparation for Pavement Construction (434 kb pdf)
8—Concrete Pavement Construction (220 kb pdf)
9—Quality Assurance and Quality Control (175 kb pdf)
10—Troubleshooting (1.6 mb pdf)

For More Information

For more information, contact CP Tech Center Secretary Denise Wagner, 515-294-5798, dfwagner@iastate.edu.