National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

Project description

North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is planning to incorporate PMED into the design process for rigid pavements. The NCDOT conducted a research project completed in 2016 as an initial step to conduct the characterization of concrete materials (FHWA Report No. NC/2015-03) which provided a database of concrete material inputs incorporating Piedmont, Coastal, and Mountain coarse aggregates along with a manufactured sand and a natural sand. Although this project provided a range of useful inputs, it is understood that there are differences in aggregates from other areas of North Carolina, including areas where rigid pavements are anticipated to be constructed. So, there is a need to characterize the concrete paving mixes prepared with these coarse aggregates and potentially other variables to obtain a more detailed catalog of PMED inputs for rigid pavement design, and subsequently, to evaluate the effects of the obtained material inputs on the design and performance analysis of rigid pavements.