NORTH BAY TWENTY YEARS LATER – A CASE STUDY OF PROPERDESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF INTERLOCKING CONCRETEPAVEMENT

摘要

In 1983, North Bay, Ontario completed construction of over 14,000 square meters (150,000sq.ft.) of interlocking concrete pavement on a one-kilometre section of downtown Main Street. Theproject, affectionately known as ‘The Big Dig' was completed in seven months of construction at a cost of$3,300,000 (1983$). Based upon a twenty-year design life and an expected traffic volume of 8000vehicles per day with 5% delivery trucks and buses, the pavement has now reached the intended designlife. In addition to these traffic volumes, the pavement is subjected to very severe weather conditions,ranging from - 40 C in the winter to 35 C in the summer.After 20 years, the pavement continues to perform exceptionally well and there are very minimal signs ofdistress. Maintenance of the pavement has been virtually non-existent. It is quite possible that theinterlocking concrete pavers will perform quite adequately for at least another 20 years. Since theDowntown was renovated, the city has continued to use pavers in public places such as sidewalks,boulevards, and waterfront promenades. Interlocking concrete pavements have not only contributed to abetter structural pavement performance, but have been instrumental to the Downtown revitalization ofNorth Bay.This paper will discuss the original pavement design, pavement evaluation and condition surveysperformed in 1991 and 1999, maintenance, and a life cycle cost analysis performed in 2000. The paperwill also key on the important lessons learned.