National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

Project description

The construction industry faces the critical challenge of developing sustainable, durable, and high-performance concrete materials capable of withstanding harsh cold climates while contributing to environmental sustainability. Traditional concrete pavements in cold regions suffer from delayed snow melting, which leads to increased accidents, higher road maintenance costs, and a greater need for deicing chemicals. These chemicals not only further degrade infrastructure but also harm the environment. Moreover, the diminishing availability and quality of traditional fly ash, a widely used supplementary cementitious material, presents a considerable obstacle to the sustainability of concrete. Given these challenges, there is an urgent need to explore innovative materials and advanced methods for producing high-performance concrete. This project will investigate a novel concrete system that leverages nanomaterial advancements with initiatives to harvest landfilled fly ash. The primary objective of this research is to develop and test a new type of geopolymer concrete composite that incorporates graphene nanoplatelets, fiber reinforcement, and beneficiated landfilled fly ash to achieve enhanced electrical conductivity for efficient snow melting, improved sustainability, and increased mechanical properties.