Evaluation of Interlocking Concrete Pavement Performance

摘要

Road pavement surfacings are now an intrinsic part of the development and personalization of municipal publicrnareas. Through its use of form, colour, and texture, interlocking concrete pavements provide an answer to concernsrnin urban design. Nevertheless, the use of interlocking concrete pavements by cities in the province of Québecrnremains low. Little is known about the structural behaviour of this type of pavement since only few studies havernfocused on this topic. This research project aims at the determination of criteria for the design of interlockingrnconcrete pavement in northern environments. For this purpose, parameters linked to performance of this type ofrnpavement have been identified and the experience with interlocking concrete pavement as road surfacing in Québecrnhas been reviewed. This was followed by a laboratory evaluation of the concrete blocks and sandy bed behaviour.rnMany parameters seem to affect the performance of interlocking concrete pavement. The assessment of thernimportance of these parameters required an evaluation of the use of interlocking concrete pavement as surfacingrnmaterial in Québec. An evaluation of nine sites in Québec City, six in Montréal, and three in Longueuil, yielded tornthe identification of the main parameters linked to the degradation of interlocking concrete pavements in urbanrncontext: pavement, joints and sandy bed. This assessment has enabled pinpointing of the problems associated withrnthis type of pavement and to identify the causes of failures as well as the reasons behind the success of existing sites,rnin particular, the key role of the sandy bed. An experimental program was carried out in laboratory, which consistedrnin verifying and quantifying the relative importance of these significant parameters using cyclic testing on systemsrnconsisting of two types of concrete blocks laid on sandy beds of different thicknesses and mineralogical sources.