Frost Durability of Roller-Compacted Concrete Pavements

The growth of roller-compacted concrete pavement use in cold climate regions often is impeded by concerns regarding its ability to resist frost attack. Most published laboratory test results have indicated that the frost resistance and particularly the deicer salt-scale resistance of RCC are not always satisfactory. However, long-term field performance indicates that non-air entrainment RCC can be quite resistant to frost action. The report provides a comprehensive review on the current practices and recent developments in material selection and aggregate gradation, mixture design methods, production process and placement techniques. Improved construction techniques and recent developments in mixture design methods have resulted in stronger more durable RCC. Data shows that as little as 1.5% of spherical air bubbles can have a beneficial influence on the frost resistance durability of RCC. Test results indicate that ASTM C 1262 appears to be a reliable method of assessing the frost durability of RCC.

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