Use of steel fibre reinforcement in cement treated base

Title: Use of steel fibre reinforcement in cement treated base
Author(s): N.H. Thom, I. Thompson, C.H. Peaston
Paper category : conference
Book title: Fourth International RILEM Conference on Reflective Cracking in Pavements - Research in Practice
Editor(s): A. O. Abd El Halim, D. A. Taylor
and El H. H. Mohamed
Print-ISBN: 2-912143-14-4
e-ISBN: 2351580265
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year: 2000
Pages: 413 - 422
Total Pages: 10
Nb references: 10
Language: English

Abstract: 
Although cement treated base is often an economically suitable material for highway construction, many highway authorities have been deterred from using it because of the known problem of reflective cracking, from thermally induced transverse cracks. It is only now, with the success of controlled cracking as a technique for assuring relatively good interlock across cracks in a cement treated layer, that designers in the UK are beginning to use it again. This paper describes a possible technique for further enhancing the attractiveness of cement treated base, by the inclusion of steel fibres. Results from laboratory tess on beam specimens and pilot-scale pavement tests are presented, which show that, in addition to a modest increase in fatigue resistance, the fibres also increase the effectiveness of interlock at cracks, thus reducing the relative vertical movement and protecting the asphalt surfacing from reflective cracking. The results for measured interlock at cracks have been fed directly into a reflection crack prediction model and the potential savings in asphalt thickness are presented. The economic implications are given. Reference is also made to full-scale mixing and laying trials which have illustrated the practical viability of producing a steel fibre reinforced cement treated base.

Online publication: 2009-12-23
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros): 0.00