EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. The bulk of India's highway pavements are deficient in thickness and the
specifications for various layers forming the pavement are sub-standard.
Drainage of pavements is a serious problem and the -axle loads coming on them
are very high (para 1.2).
2. Deficiencies in pavement thickness and scarcity of resources to strengthen the
pavements to withstand the loads to be encountered during the design life, have
resulted in poor riding quality and consequent loss due to high vehicle operating
costs (para 1.3).
3. Even the National Highway system has a backlog of strengthening of 19,250
kms. The cost of strengthening this length is a huge figure of Rs. 14,450 crones
(para 1.4).
4. As pavement strengthening is expected to be a major activity in the coming
years, the specifications for strengthening deserve close scrutiny (Para 1.5).
5. Strengthening of pavement can be accomplished by an "overlay" or an "inlay"
(para 2.3).
6. Overlays can be of flexible type or of cement concrete, the latter being known by
the term "white-topping" (para 2.4). White-topping can be of the conventional
type (thickness: 200-300 mm), thin (thickness: 125-200 mm) or ultra-thin
(thickness: 50-125 mm).
7. So far, the overlay choice was of flexible type because of abundant supply of
bituminous binder, resources constraint and manageable traffic volume (para
2.5).
8. The present practice of flexible overlays has many shortcomings, such as
provision of relatively weaker layers over existing pavement of insufficient
thickness (para 2.6).
9. Interest in cement concrete overlays is increasing because of various factors
such as uncertain future of bitumen availability, favourable cost of concrete
overlays, trend towards choice based on life-cycle-costs and improvements in
technology (para 2.7).
10. Concrete overlays enjoy many advantages such as long life, maintenance-free
performance, fuel saving, good riding quality, hard surface, no effect of spillage
by oil, design precision, impenetrability to water, good reflectivity characteristics,
availability of binder and favourable cost economics (para 2.8).
11. There are some drawbacks with concrete overlays such as difficulties
experienced in locating utilities, poor rideability at joints and problem of
maintaining traffic flow during their comparatively long construction period. There
are, however, fairly simple ways of dealing with these problems (para 2.9).

1
12. International experience on white-topping is encouraging. Countries like France,
Belgium, U.S.A, U.K., etc. have successfully designed and constructed concrete
overlays. Their performance is good (chapter 3). Ultra-Thin-White-topping is a
new technology that holds promise.
13. Various types of concrete overlays are possible: plain concrete, conventionally
reinforced concrete, continuously reinforced concrete, fibre-reinforced concrete
and prestressed concrete (paras 4.1-4.6), besides Ultra-Thin-White-topping.
Interest is presently centred on plain concrete and continuously reinforced
concrete. The choice between the two is essentially one of economics (para
4.7).
14. Ultra-Thin-White-topping (UTWT) is a new technology that has emerged. The
thickness is in the range of 50-125 mm (pars 5.1).
15_ In UTWT, the thin concrete overlay is bonded with the underlying bituminous
layers so that a composite action takes place. As a result, a major portion of the
external load is transferred to the lower layers of the pavement and the stresses
in concrete are kept within acceptable limits (para 5.2).
16. The essential features of UTWT are: smaller dimensions of panels, high strength
concrete, use of fibres to reinforce the concrete (para 5.3).
17. UTWT is laid on an existing bituminous layer after milling it so that a good bond
develops between the concrete and the bituminous courses. Since high strength
concrete is used, traffic can be allowed after one day of laying (para 5.4).
18. The performance of UTWT abroad has been good and design guidelines are
being developed (para 5.5).
19. Design of conventional concrete overlays is essentially a blend of engineering
analysis and experience of past performance (para 6.1).
20. The strength of an existing pavement may be evaluated directly by a plate
bearing test. Where it is not possible to carry out such a test to determine
strength, CBR values may be used to approximately arrive at the modulus of
subgrade reaction. The practice abroad is to prescribe a maximum limit to the
value of modulus of subgrade reaction. The limit is 500-600 psi/in. or 13.85-
16.61 kg./cm3 (para 6.2).
21. For Indian conditions, the wheel load selected should cater for the overloading
phenomenon (para 6.3).
22. Concrete of good strength is needed for overlays. A 28-day flexural strength of
4.4 MPa is appropriate for Indian conditions (para 6.4).
23. Jointed plain concrete overlay thickness varies from 190-270 mm for various
intensities of traffic (para 6.8), as against a thickness of 60-140 mm for flexible
overlay (Para 7.7).
24. No doubt bituminous overlays are cheaper in initial cost than concrete overlays,
almost half the cost of concrete overlays (Para 7.11). But it should be
remembered that bituminous overlays are based on short design life, and hence
initial cost comparison alone is not equitable.

(iii)

2
25. When life-cycle-costing is done, concrete overlays emerge as a very attractive
option, because of reduced maintenance and overlay costs, lower vehicle
operating costs and fuel savings (para 7.12). The NPV of construction and
maintenance costs of a flexible overlay (in a zone where stone aggregates are
cheap) is almost double that of a concrete overlay, thus bringing out very
decisively that flexible overlays are not at all economical. The first year fuel
savings amount to Rs. 23 lakhs per Km. (para 7.13).
26. Because concrete overlays are now cheaper than flexible overlays on a life-
cycle-cost basis, the government should issue instructions for adoption of
concrete overlays in all future projects (para 7.13).
27. The existing pavement must be corrected by a profile correction course before
superimposing the concrete overlay (para 8.1).
28. Drainage of the existing pavement must be improved (para 8.3).
29. Pavement widening should be done with strips having the same strength as the
existing pavement (para 8.4).
30. Traffic diversions must be constructed before taking up concrete overlays (para
8.5).
31. The temperature of the bituminous surface should be kept low by watering (para
8.6).
32. Concreting and finishing must be done by mechanical pavers and appliances
such as joint-cutting machines (para 8.7). Use of weigh batchers are
recommended for the production of concrete mixes.
33. Quality control of workmanship is of prime importance (para 8.9).
34. Recent advances in cement technology render it possible to reduce the
hardening period considerably (para 8.10).
35. Since "White-topping" is a new technology in India, it may be desirable to
undertake construction of a few trial lengths as a beginning.
36. R&D should be taken up in India on all aspects of concrete overlays so as to
develop design guidelines appropriate to Indian conditions.

3
 CHAPTERI

PAVEMENT STRENGTHENING PROBLEM

1.1. Effect of load on pavements

As a loaded wheel passes over a flexible pavement, a downward deflection occurs. The
greater the magnitude of the load, the more is the deflection. The deflection also
depends upon the thickness of the pavement and its constituent layers, and on the
supporting strength of the subgrade soil. If the pavement is well-designed, the deflection is
almost entirely elastic and the pavement should return to its original level after the
wheel load has passed, the permanent deformation being negligible. But, when loads
are heavier than the design loads, a certain amount of permanent deformation is
caused, the cumulative effect of which results in rutting and shoving under the wheel
paths, and cracking, which are the principal indicators of pavement deterioration. The
pavement thus suffers serious deformations, affecting the riding quality. Normal
maintenance solutions like patching and resealing then act as temporary palliatives,
unable to arrest the malady at its roots. The only solution is to provide an overlay of
suitable thickness and specifications, such that the structural strength of the pavement is
increased and its life is further prolonged.
The problem is more serious when pavements are not initially constructed to the desired
thickness and structural strength to meet the traffic requirements. The bulk of India's
highway pavements fall into this category. The embankments are very old, and were
formed years ago with local earth and practically no compaction. The pavements were
gradually thickened as traffic grew. Till very recently, the layers were of stone soling,
brick paving, or unbound aggregates (mostly Water Bound Macadam), surfaced with a
thin bituminous wearing course. The introduction of bituminous bases and dense
wearing courses has been comparatively recent, (since the late seventies) and that too
restricted to the heavily trafficked sections of arterial roads. Shortage of funds has_
forced the engineers to adopt the "boxed section" option for pavements, in which any
entrapped water has no outlet. A "bath-tub" situation is thus common in Indian
pavements as effective drainage is almost non-existent. As irrigation becomes widely
practised, the water table has been rising, creating capillary rise of water in the subgrade
thereby further affecting the pavement performance. The embankments are slightly
above or almost level with the adjoining fields. However, the worst blow to pavements
comes from overloaded vehicles. As against a legally permitted axle load of 10.2
tonnes, axle loads of 15-20 tonnes are quite common. A repetition of 150=300 million
standard axles during the design life of a pavement is common on arterial highways.
The Vehicle. Damage Factor, which represents the damaging power of commercial
vehicles is very high (in the range of 3-10).
1.2. Effect of poor pavements
With inadequate and ill-drained pavements in the country's network of roads, highway
engineers. are finding themselves at a great disadvaptage in keeping the pavements in a
traffic-worthy state. Scarcity of resources for the road sector in the past has led to the
adoption of stage construction strategies and short design periods. A design period of
more than 10 years was almost a luxury and one had to do with a design period of 5
years in most situations. Roads in the country are, therefore, in a never-ending process of
evolution:. Strengthening' with thin flexible overlays is quite common. But such
strengthening is often overtaken by high traffic intensity and loading, causing quick

4
rutting and deformations. Maintenance costs mount up as patching and crack-sealing
have to be attended to. The riding quality is very poor. A recent survey of the National
Highway System has revealed that the average roughness of the network as measured
by a Bump Integrator is 4600 mm/km*, which is far too high (Ref. 2). A well-laid
bituminous surface should have a roughness value of 1500-2000 mm/km*. Surface
roughness has a major impact on fuel consumption and vehicle operating costs (Ref. 3).
Thus, the country loses thousands of crores of rupees every year because of the poor
state of its roads. At current prices, this may easily amount to Rs. 20,000 - 30,000
crores (Ref. 4).
1.3. Neglect of maintenance
Road transport has grown exponentially over the past 50 years. The total length of the
road network has increased from 0.4 million km in 1951 to 3.3 million km in 1999, (eight-
fold increase), and the number of motor vehicles has increased from 0.3 million in 1951 to
50 million in 2000 (170-fold increase) (Ref. 7). It is experienced that the maintenance of
road assets already created does not receive adequate attention : even in the case of
National Highways, allocations for maintenance in the last several years have not
exceeded 50-55 per cent of the requirements, and the situation in case of other
categories of roads is even worse (Ref. 5). This is a grave situation, which can only be
rectified by building road pavements which require minimum or zero maintenance.
1.4. Extent of pavement strengthening required in India
The cumulative effect of past neglect is that the country is now saddled with a road
network whose pavements are extremely deficient in thickness and are very poor in
riding quality. An estimate of the World Bank (Ref. 4) mentions that approximately 80-90
per cent of the National and State Highways are not structurally adequate for the
permissible axle load of 10.2 tonnes. It also indicates that over 50 per cent of the
National and State Highways, and a higher percentage of other roads, are in bad
condition. The condition of city streets is much worse. A recent estimate in the Tenth
Five Year Plan (Ref. 6) puts the length of National Highways where strengthening of the
weak pavements is involved as 19,250 km, at an estimated cost of Rs. 14,450 crores
(Rs. 145 billion). By the time this task is accomplished, which may take 10 to 15 years,
additional lengths would again become due for further strengthening. The process
would thus go on perpetually, because flexible overlays last only for about 10 years or
so. In the period 2011-2021, it is estimated that 24,000 km of National Highway
pavements, will need strengthening at an estimated cost of Rs. 18,000 crores (Rs. 180
billion) (Ref. 7). In respect of State Highways, accurate data is lacking, but the Vision
2021 document (Ref. 7) puts *the requirement of strengthening of pavements as under:

2001-2011 2011-2021
Length 30,000 40,000
Cost (Rs.-Crores) 22,000 30,000
(Rs.-Billion) 220 300

* Note: The following are the equivalent International Roughness Index (IRI) Values (calculated from Ref.1)
Bump Integrator Roughness (mm/km) IRI
4600 5.9
2000 2.8
1500 2.2

5
1.5. Need for care in selection of overlay specifications
It is obvious from the above, that pavement strengthening will be a major activity on
Indian roads for many years to come. Large outlays are involved. As such, great care is
needed in selecting the specifications for strengthening. A dominant factor in the choice of
specifications for strengthening will be the need to cut down the recurring
maintenance costs, the never-ending requirement of additional overlays once every few
years to keep the road in good condition, and the lack of drainage inherent in the present
pavements. One should also keep in mind the high traffic loadings and the rainfall
intensity which causes serious damage after every monsoon.

6
 CHAPTER 2

OVERLAY OPTIONS

2.1. Definition of Overlay

An overlay is a layer of substantial thickness provided on top of an existing pavement It
should be distinguished from resurfacing or resealing, which are part of periodic
maintenance operations and which involve thin layers (say below 20 mm) intended to
seal cracks, restore anti-skid property and smoothen rough riding surfaces. Overlays
are part of what are commonly termed 'rehabilitation' or 'strengthening' measures. In
India, resurfacing or resealing operations are financed from maintenance grants,
whereas overlays are financed from capital budgets. Thus, funds for overlays come
from plan outlays.
2.2. Purpose of Overlay
The principal purpose of an overlay is to restore or increase the load-carrying capacity, or
life, or both, of the existing pavement In achieving this objective, overlays also
restore the rideability of the existing pavements which have suffered rutting and
deformations. Besides, an overlay rectifies other defects such as loss of texture.
2.3. Overlay and Inlay
A pavement layer constructed on top of an existing pavement is termed as an overlay
(Fig. 1). This results in an increase in the final finished level of a road. In some
situations, it may not be possible to raise the level of an existing road which might have
deteriorated and needs a strengthening layer. Many urban streets are examples of this.
The footpath level is fixed with reference to the adjoining property and cannot be
increased as it may cause drainage or access problems. There has to be a certain
minimum height of the roadside kerb, and this preludes the unending increase in street
levels whenever strengthening layers are added. In such cases, the top layers of the
existing street which have undergone deterioration are excavated, and fresh
strengthening layers are added to maintain approximately the same surface level. This
procedure is known by the term 'inlay' (Fig. 2)-
2A. Principal Overlay types
The two principal options for overlays in terms of specifications and binder are the
following:
(a) flexible overlay, considering of granular layers and bituminous layers.
(b)cement concrete overlay.
Cement concrete overlay on top of an existing bituminous surface is commonly known
by the term -white-topping-
Overlays are also provided on existing cement concrete pavements.. They can be of the
flexible type or rigid type. Rigid overlays can be urubonded or bonded with the concrete
pavement below. This publication does not deal with overlays on top of existing
concrete pavements-

7
White-topping can be further classified into (Ref. 8):

Conventional White-topping : Thickness range : 200-300 mm

Thin White-topping : Thickness range : 125-200 mm
Ultra Thin White-topping : Thickness range : 50-125 mm
2.5. Overlay practice in India so far
Bituminous overlays on existing black-topped surfaces have been the most common
strategy in the past, for pavement maintenance and rehabilitation. Many factors have
contributed to this. Notable among them are:-
1. Abundant supply of bitumen
Bitumen was available in plenty. at a comparatively low cost. Today, while
availability is not yet a problem, its price has gone up considerably.
2. Resource constraint : Sta a construction strategy
In India, the roads sector has always had to exist under a serious resource
constraint. The road programmes were ambitious, but there was invariably a
shortage of funds, so the meagre resources had to be spread thinly. It was
therefore unthinkable to adopt a high design life for the pavement since this
entailed a high investment. Under such circumstances, a 5-10 year design
period was all that the country could afford. Even in the latest (1997)
guideline on strengthening of flexible pavements (Ref. 9), the design life for
major roads is taken as 10 years and that for less important roads, it is taken
as 5 years only. For new flexible pavements, a design life of 15 years is
recommended for National Highways and State Highways, and a design life
of 10-15 years is recommended for other categories of pavements (Ref. 10),
with the disclaimer that very often it is not possible to provide the full
thickness of pavement right at the time of initial construction, and stage
construction techniques should be adopted in such cases. Stage
construction was thus deliberately made the cornerstone of highway
planning. Bituminous overlays, with their short life and amenability to
frequent renewals, fitted the situation very well.
3. Traffic volume and loads were manageable
In the past, the road traffic, both in terms of volume and axle loads was
manageable. Designs with thin bituminous overlays could cope with the
situation. And when signs of distress appeared, these could always be dealt
with by further overlays.
2.6. Shortcomings of flexible overlay procedures adopted in India
Inspite of. obvious advantages of amenability to stage construction, keeping to low
budgets and little dislocation, flexible overlays suffer from many major disadvantages.
Many sections of heavily trafficked roads in India have pavements of thickness 300-500
mm. Quite often, considerations of soil subgrade supporting strength and expected
traffic, dictated the provision of further 200-300 mm (or more) of strengthening layers on
such pavements. Faced with such a situation, highway engineers have been making up the
additional thickness in one of the following manners:

8
 (a) adding substantial layers of water bound macadam (WBM) over the existing
bituminous surface, and finally providing a bitumen-bound base and
bituminous surfacing (Fig. 3).
(b) making up the thickness deficiency with built-up spray-grout (BUSG) and
finally providing a bitumen-bound base and bituminous surfacing (Fig. 4).
(c) providing an ad-hoc thickness of bitumen-bound base and surfacing directly
on top of the existing surface, the thickness provided being much less than
the requirement (Fig. 5).
Alternative (a) results in the provision of the full desired thickness, but it also results in
the placing of a weak granular base on top of an existing bituminous surface.
Alternative (b) accomplishes full thickness, but the BUSG layers can be even weaker
than water bound macadam layers in the absence of proper inter-lock. The quantity of
bitumen used in E3USG is too meagre to hold the aggregates together and as loads
pass, the stone aggregates may start rocking in position. Settlements follow and large
deformation take place. In fact, the use of BUSG is now not followed on National
Highways, though the specification is still used for State roads.
Alternative (c) no doubt conforms to the desirable property of a flexible pavement, viz.,
successive layers on top to have higher strengths. But, the thickness is deficient. The
life of the pavement is thus shortened and soon additional overlays become necessary.
An ideal solution is to provide the full additional thickness with bituminous layers. This
practice is being followed on National Highways for important works, but on State roads
and urban streets full overlays with bituminous layers are hardly ever adopted. Thus our
pavements are never adequately designed, with the result that they are constantly being
over-stressed. Their performance quite naturally, then falls below expectations, and
road users have to put up with the inconvenience caused by frequent maintenance
interventions and thereby incur higher vehicle operating costs.
2.7. New interest in Cement Concrete overlays
In the recent past, many changes have taken place, creating an enthusiastic awareness of
the role of concrete overlays on bituminous pavements. Some of these are:-
1. Uncertain future of bitumen supply

The oil crunch has exposed the danger of depending on a material derived
from the dwindling oil reserves of the world. Though India has done
remarkably well in pushing forward its indigenous oil exploration programme,
the demand for oil products has surged upwards. India imports about 70 per
cent of its oil needs and this over-dependance on imports is likely to increase
further during the coming years, causing serious 'drain on the foreign
exchange reserves. To make matters worse, the bulk of the Indian crude
lacks in bitumen content. Thus even if we attain self-sufficiency in oil (which is
highly improbable), to meet our rising bitumen demand, we may have to
import the same from abroad. Hence in the coming years, the supply position of
bitumen is likely to become difficult (Ref. 11).

9
 Existing bitumen supplies should therefore be restricted to maintenance
needs, and preferably not utilized to construct new roads. And whenever
there is scope for substitution of bitumen with any other type of binder, either
for repairs and rehabilitation or original construction purposes, the alternative
should be taken advantage of.
2. Favourable cost economics of cement concrete
Shortage of oil supply worldwide has increased the price of bitumen to very
high levels. In India, the price of bitumen was around Rs. 4,000 per tonne in
the year 1993, but now the rate has increased to Rs. 12,000 - 16,000 per
tonne, depending upon whether it is ordinary bitumen or polymer modified
bitumen. With such high prices, the cost of the bituminous course in a road is
nearly equal to the cost of an equivalent cement layer, for the same
thickness. The following comparison indicates the cost of specifications:-

Rs/cum
1. Dense Bituminous Macadam 4000-5000
2. Bituminous Concrete 5000-6000
3. Cement Concrete (M-40) 3000-4000
4. Cement Concrete (M-40) with Flyash replacement 2900-3600

In Tables 11 and 13, a sensitivity analysis of cost of different bituminous and

cement concrete pavements is presented.
The cost of bituminous material and cement concrete can be viewed in
another light. The quantity of bitumen used in bituminous overlay material is 5
per cent by weight of mix. The quantity of cement used is about 15 per cent
by weight of mix. Thus, the quantity of binder in a concrete overlay
material is three times that of bituminous binder. But tonne for tonne,
bitumen costs 5 times as much as cement. Moreover, for producing a
bituminous mix, both bitumen and aggregates have to be heated, but this is
not so for concrete. Fuel requirement for heating adds to the cost of a
bituminous course. Thus, tonne for tonne or cum for cum, bituminous overlay
material will be costlier than cement concrete.
3. Trend towards selection of resurfacing based on life-cycle costs rather
than initial costs
It is being increasingly appreciated by highway engineers and funding
agencies, that the selection of a pavement type (new or overlay) should be
done after considering all potential design alternatives, each capable of
providing the required performance. If all other things are equal, the
alternative that is the least expensive over a laid down time period should be
selected; that is, the planner should try to find the design that will serve the
needs of the traffic volume and loads, at a given level of service, for the
lowest cost for the required number of years. This technique, known as life-
cycle costing, has been recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards
vide IS:13174 (Part 1)-1991. It consists of an economic assessment,
considering all significant costs of ownership over the pavement's economic
life, expressed in discounted money values (Ref. 12). If this practice is

10
 followed, cement concrete scores very well over bituminous overlays
because of its practically maintenance-free performance over a long life span.
4. Improvement in construction equipment procedures and reinforcing
techniques
Cement concrete pavement construction techniques have undergone rapid
technological advancements in recent years, making it possible to achieve a
high rate of progress along with well-controlled quality. Improved reinforcing
techniques, such as continuous reinforcement and fibre reinforcement, have
been evolved, which give cost-effective pavements of excellent riding quality
and structural strength.
2.8. Advantages of cement concrete overlays over bituminous overlays
Cement concrete overlays enjoy many advantages over bituminous ones. These are
discussed below.
1. Practically maintenance-free long life
Cement concrete surfaces are practically maintenance-free. The only
attention needed is at joints where resealing may have to be done every five
years or so. However, joint sealants that last for the life of the concrete
pavement (25-30 years) are now available in India. If continuously reinforced
concrete pavements (CRCP) are provided, the joints are totally avoided and
there will be virtually no maintenance required. This is because, unlike in a
bitumen pavement, there are generally no potholes, ruts or cracking, where
cement concrete is concerned.
A well-designed and well-constructed cement concrete overlay has a life of
about 40 years. Even after this long period, another overlay can be laid, (but
this must be done before cracks develop) and the pavement's life can be
further prolonged. It can thus be rightfully claimed that the life of a cement
concrete pavement can be almost endlessly renewed with minimum trouble to
the users. On the other hand, though bituminous overlays are designed for a
life of 10-15 years, even well-made ones quickly age with traffic and
environmental effects. A periodic renewal layer (say, about 25-40 mm thick)
thus becomes unavoidable after 4-6 years of service; and after a few more
years, a fresh evaluation of the condition of the entire pavement becomes
necessary depending upon the traffic, and it could be likely that a substantial
rehabilitation course of 100-200 mm may become necessary. In between,
work on routine repair like filling potholes and ruts goes on. Thus, the
repair/rehabilitation works on a bituminous pavement are an almost endless
affair, causing traffic disturbances and annoyance to road users.
2. Good riding quality
The initial riding quality in-built in a concrete pavement at the time of its
construction lasts for a long time. Pavement rideability deterioration is very
slow, in fact, almost absent (Fig. 6). This quality of maintaining a smooth
surface saves fuel, tyre wear and maintenance costs of vehicles. This is in
sharp contrast to a flexible pavement, where even the best of surfaces
deteriorates fairly quickly under traffic. Ruts are formed, settlements take
place and smoothness gradually disappears.

11
 3. Hard surface
Cement concrete is a material with a high resistance to abrasion and gives a
hard surface, very little affected by wear and tear of traffic. Its abrasion
resistance also makes the pavement ideal for sharp curves, junctions and hill
roads, where cornering, braking and accelerating forces tend to disintegrate
the wearing surface. In addition, the hard surface becomes a great
advantage in heavy-load trafficked sections near ports, container depots,
storage areas and similar locations.
4. No effect of spillage of oil
Concrete is unaffected by spillage of oil and lubricants from stationary and
moving vehicles. Bitumen, on the other hand, is easily dissolved by spilled
petroleum products, and bituminous surfaces degrade quickly when this
happens. Thus, cement concrete is ideal for bus depots, aircraft aprons,
truck parking bays, fuel stations and garages, and even busy road
intersections where vehicle waiting time tends to be long, since chances of
spillage at these locations are high.
5. Design precision
A cement concrete pavement is amenable to much better and more precise
structural analysis than a flexible pavement. This is because of the fact that
the flexural strength of concrete, which is used as the main basis for design,
can be readily determined through precise scientific tests. On the other hand,
flexible pavement designs are mainly empirical, and characterization of
materials in the various layers that they have, is beset with difficulties.
6. Penetration of water
A cement concrete slab is practically impervious to moisture except at the
joints. If the joints are well sealed and adequately maintained, or if there are
no joints as in CRCP, water can be totally excluded from the sub-grade. On
the other hand, a bituminous pavement permits ingress of water though its
cracks and pores. Such water, by damaging the subgrade, can easily impair
the stability of the pavement. Water in bituminous courses can also cause
stripping and loss of adhesion between the stone particles and bitumen.
Thus cement concrete surfaces are beneficial for locations where there is f
looding or water-logging, as well as where there is a lack of drainage. City
streets and roads through towns and villages, especially in high rainfall areas, are
well suited for concrete surfaces because of this factor.
7. Good reflectivity characteristics
Cement concrete has a light-coloured surface. Hence its reflectivity
characteristics are very superior when compared to those of dark coloured
bituminous surfaces. Thus, from the point of view of street lighting, cement
concrete is an economical surface (Ref. 13), since it requires a much lower
level of illumination.
8. Availability of binder
Cement is locally produced in our country, with Indian capital and local raw
materials (limestone and coal). Its availability is assured over the years to

12
 come since the country has plentiful reserves of these materials. The cement
industry in India is continuously augmenting its capacity and upgrading its
technology. The installed capacity in 2004 is 146 million tonnes, and the
production was 118 million tonnes (Ref. 14). As such, the availability of
cement would pose no problem to meet the requirement of pavement
construction, or rehabilitation. On the other hand, bitumen is derived from
petroleum crude, whose supply world-wide is comparatively limited and may be
in doubt in a few years from now. A recent study (Ref. 11) indicated that the
bitumen production capacity in our refineries was 2.8 million tonne per
annum. Though this was adequate to meet the existing requirements,
increasing demand which is likely to go up to over 4.0 million tonnes by the
year 2007 would require refinery capacity to be suitably augmented.
Otherwise, shortage of bitumen is likely to seriously affect the upkeep of our
road system.
Economics of overlay types
Till a few years ago, cement concrete pavements were initially costlier than
flexible ones. With the steep increase in the price of both bitumen and oil,
and the need for heating both aggregates and bitumen before mixing in a hot-
mix plant, bituminous layers have become costlier than cement concrete
layers for the same thickness. This is explained in detail in a subsequent
chapter. If "shadow-pricing" is done to delete the tax element and to account
for foreign exchange outgo, the price differential between bituminous and
concrete surfaces becomes even more favourable to the latter. And when
whole-life-cycle costs are considered, cement concrete surfaces enjoy yet
greater advantage, because of lower maintenance cost and avoidance of
frequent strengthening layers during the design life. Finally, if road user costs
are included in the comparison, the cement concrete option becomes almost
irresistible.
Utilisation of fly-ash, a waste material
Fly-ash can replace cement to an extent of 20-50 per cent in concrete for
almost all usages. It is well-known that fly-ash is a waste-material produced
in thermal power plants where coal is used as the fuel. Fly-ash is pozzolanic
and reacts with the lime set free when cement hydrates, thereby producing
cementitious materials. Fly-ash improves the properties of concrete as
under:
• greater long-term strength
• improved workability
• increased durability
In addition, the use of fly-ash results in a reduction in the cost of concrete.
1 . Fuel Savings by trucks
When a heavy wheel load is imposed on a pavement, it deflects. The amount of
deflection depends upon various factors such as:
• The wheel load
• The flexural strength of the pavement
• The soil support strength

13
 A flexible pavement has low flexural strength, whereas a concrete pavement
has high flexural strength. Because of its low flexural strength, a flexible
pavement deflects quite a lot as the wheel of a vehicle passes over it. In
case of concrete pavement, this deflection is very little. As a result, in the
former case, the wheel has to overcome the larger deflection bowl created in
the flexible pavement as it moves along (see Fig. 7). This consumes a
significant part of the energy that would otherwise be available to propel the
vehicle. The consumption of fuel is consequently more on pavements which
deflect excessively than on those which deflect less. Rigid pavements are
thus more fuel efficient than flexible pavements, when the riding quality of
both is the same. This effect is noticeably pronounced when heavy wheel
loads pass. Commercial vehicles, which have heavy wheel loads, can thus
derive the benefit of lower fuel consumption. American experiments have
proved this theory and fuel savings upto 20 percent are reported (Ref. 16).
Limited experiments carried out in India have also shown fuel saving on
concrete roads upto 14 percent (Ref. 17). If the second carriageway of the
entire NHDP programme covering 14,000 Km of National Highways had been
made with white-topping as an overlay option, it would have resulted in an
annual saving of 0.5 mil tonnes of diesel, worth Rs. 1000 crores assuming
2500 trucks per day, a fuel efficiency of 4 Km/litre and 14 per cent savings!
14,000 Km x 2500 Trucks x 365 x 0.14
4 Km/litre x 1000 = 447,000 Tonnes,

costing around Rs. 1000 crores

2.9. Some drawbacks of Concrete Overlays and ways of overcoming them

There are some drawbacks in the use of cement concrete overlays as given below, but
these can be easily overcome.
Firstly, breaking of concrete slabs to locate or alter utilities is troublesome. The broken
slab cannot be easily repaired as in the case of flexible pavements. This drawback is
particularly applicable to urban roads. However, it can be overcome by shifting existing
utilities into conduits that are laid below the road and laying some additional conduits to
cater for expansion of utilities in future. Besides this, utilities can be catered for by
leaving gaps in the concrete pavement; such gaps being constructed as bituminous or
with precast concrete blocks. With these measures, the disadvantages can be turned to an
advantage since indiscriminate digging of roads is eliminated. The example of the city of
Mumbai in this regard is a success story of how careful planning of utilities before white-
topping can be carried out.
Secondly, the joints in a normal concrete pavements result in lowering down of rider
comfort, especially when driving fast. This disadvantage can be overcome by sawing of
joints (thus keeping them narrow) and careful maintenance of the same with sealant.
Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavements (CRCP) which do not have joints,
completely eliminate this defect.
Thirdly, concrete surfaces can sometimes get polished and become smooth in texture
with passage of time under heavy traffic. Such pavements may then become
skid prone. This defect can be got over by carefully selecting polish-resistant aggregates
and in texturing the slab properly at the initial stage. There is also the remedy of grooving
or diamond grinding of the pavement again, if smoothness becomes unacceptable.

14
Fourthly, many express the apprehension that concrete slabs may not be able to
withstand the heavy overloading endemic to our country. The remedy for this lies in
designing them for a heavy axle load, say 15-18 tonnes, instead of the legally permitted
axle load of 10.2 tonnes. The actual axle load to be considered for design will, of
course, have to be selected for each road on an analysis of the likely actual axle load
spectrum.
And finally, there is the problem of maintaining traffic flow when concreting is being done
and the slab is left for curing. Ordinary cement concrete needs several days to harden
before it can be thrown open to traffic. The period of traffic diversion however, can be
kept to a minimum if rapid hardening and high early strength cements are used. In fact,
"fast-track" construction can permit opening to traffic within 24-48 hours (Ref. 15). If
sufficient demand builds up, the cement and concrete industry in India can also be
expected to bring similar technology to India at affordable prices.
There is a feeling that concrete pavements generate higher levels of noise than
bituminous surfaces. This may be true,' especially in urban locations. But research
abroad has come out with solutions to overcome this defect. "Whisper Concrete" with
exposed aggregates and longitudinal grooving can be reduce the noise level to less than
that generated on a bituminous pavement.
Concrete overlays, unlike bituminous overlays, do not require a minimum thickness of
underlying pavement for structural stability. What is required is a firm and uniform
support, which can be provided by the existing bituminous layers, if any overlay is
proposed, and by the existing granular layers if an inlay is proposed after removing the
bituminous layers. The lack of internal drainage of the pavement, which is one of the
endemic problems of most of Indian pavements built over the past in stages, does not
seriously affect the performance of a concrete overlay as it does in the case of a flexible
overlay.
 CHAPTER 3

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

3.1. General
The increasing price of bitumen worldwide has led to the adoption of concrete overlays
on top of bituminous surface in several developed countries abroad. Other factors which
have favoured the use of concrete overlays are the technological advance in
construction of concrete pavements and the increasing awareness of whole-life-
cycle costing concepts. In this Chapter, the experiences in some countries are given.
3.2. France
In France, nearly two-thirds of the National Highway network showed inadequate
pavement thickness at the end of the 1960s. This was as a result of insufficient
maintenance and rapid development of heavy vehicular traffic over the period
19501965. The country, therefore, took up a coordinated programme of overlays.
Nearly 18,000 kms out of 28,000 kms of National Highways received overlays during the
period 1969 to 1982 (Ref. 18). Several lengths of these overlays were constructed in
cement concrete. The performance of these converted pavements is reported to be
remarkable (Ref. 18) and "is an encouragement to the Highways Department to give a fresh
impetus to utilisation of this technique on appropriate sites" (Ref. 19).
3.3. Belgium
Belgium introduced concrete overlays in 1960. Comparing the economic and technical
aspects of concrete overlays in 1984 Dermience (Ref. 20) says as under:-
"The cost of continuously reinforced concrete overlays remains higher than that of
a black overlay of the same thickness. On the other hand, the cost of an
overlay with dowelled concrete slabs is exactly the same. User costs are clearly
lower for concrete that for black alternatives. Maintenance costs of concrete
overlays are practically non-existent".
Summarizing the Belgian experience Dermience (Ref. 20) says:-
"The main reason for the choice in Belgium of continuously reinforced concrete
overlays for major roads is the excellent performance of this type of pavement in the
long term, the virtual lack of maintenance costs and the reduced user cost"_
3.4. U.S.A.
Concrete overlays on flexible pavements have been in use in the USA for many years
now. The first such project was undertaken as early as 1918 (Ref. 21). During 1940s
and 1950s plain concrete resurfacings were used extensively at both military and civil
airports, as aircraft loadings and traffic increased. The performance of many such
resurfacings was monitored by the Corps of Engineers and it has been reported that
they performed well (Ref. 21). In 1966, Westall (Ref. 22) presented design and
construction details for concrete overlays on flexible pavements based on experience of 10
years. He concluded:-
"Concrete overlays built on asphalt pavements have demonstrated the flexibility of
this type of construction when a change in pavement type is planned and it is
practicable to re-use an existing asphalt pavement".
Plain concrete has been used extensively for resurfacing in California since 1960, it has
been reported in 1981 that: "Plain concrete resurfacings without dowels or reinforcement
have given excellent service in California" (Ref. 23).
Federal funding has been available for many years in the USA for 4 R projects:
restoration, rehabilitation, resurfacing and reconstructing (Ref. 24). White-topping is one of
the types of resurfacings. Some of the projects whose white-topped surfaces are still
giving good service despite being more than 20 years old are described below:
In Kansas, the existing 20 year old bituminous pavement was in distress due to thermal
cracking at regular intervals. The cracks were 50-80 mm wide in the 250 mm thick
bituminous layer and could not be satisfactorily repaired. The State decided therefore to
resurface 13 km of four-lane divided roadway with 200 mm of plain, undowelled concrete to
bridge over the cracks in the pavement. 100 mm of bituminous layer was initially milled
off and the material salvaged was recycled and used to resurface the shoulders. The 200
mm concrete overlay was slip-formed on the remaining 150 mm bituminous
layer. Skewed joints were sawn at 5 m spacing (Ref. 25).
On an interstate highway near Dallas, Texas, the flexible pavement consisted of 280 mm
sub-base, 200 mm base and 150-200 mm of bituminous surfacing from two or three
resurfacings. The State had unsuccessfully tried cold milling to restore the riding quality.
They decided to go in for a concrete overlay. A levelling course of 25 mm in bituminous
material was laid to correct the profile. Thereafter, a 280 mm plain cement concrete slab
was laid. The transverse contraction joints were at 5 m spacing. Dowels and deformed
tie-bars were fastened to the old pavement ahead of the slip-form paver, which placed
12 m of concrete in one pass, two 4 m mainline lanes, a 3 m outer shoulder and 1 m
inner shoulder (Ref. 25).
In 1983, Oregon State tried its first inlay, a variation of white-topping. Iowa and Idaho
had built concrete inlays in bituminous pavements in 1979 and 1981. In Oregon, they
milled off all the existing outer (or truck) lane 4 m wide and 330 mm deep. This trench
was then filled with a 330 mm CRCP slab (Ref. 25).
Some of the Midwestern states-Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, have now built many
miles of white-topping on light-traffic rural roads (Ref. 25). These are two lane rural
roads, 6-7 m wide, carrying farm-to-market traffic. The concrete overlays range from
130 to 180 mm thickness. Overlays are plain concrete with joint spacings of 5 m or less.
Usually, the new concrete is slipformed directly on the existing bituminous surface. In
cases of serious existing distortion, the surface is milled to establish a more uniform
cross-section for the concrete overlay.
In Iowa, in the nineteen seventies, several country engineers analysed the economics of
resurfacing of their bituminous-surfaced secondary road system in an attempt to
decrease maintenance costs and lengthen the required maintenance cycle. Their
analysis, which was widely publicized has resulted in the construction of cement
concrete overlays over old bituminous country roads in a number of counties (Ref. 27,
-28). Thickness of these ranged from 100 mm to 200 mm. Two fundamental
construction procedures were adopted; one involved the complete removal of the old
bituminous material prior to concrete overlay and the other retained the existing
bituminous surface as a base under the new concrete slab. The former technique was
adopted where the existing pavement surface exhibited extensive deterioration and
distortion. The latter technique was adopted where the existing surface was in a
tolerably acceptable condition. The experience of Iowa is that "Portland cement
 concrete overlays can be successfully constructed over existing asphaltic concrete
roads, with a minimum of surface preparation, and can contribute a long-term
economical solution to the ever-increasing cost of maintenance" (Ref. 28).'
In his article "Concrete Overlays Challenge Asphalt", Renier said (Ref. 29) that the
technology of concrete overlays is undergoing rapid changes. No longer will lanes to be
overlaid with concrete, have to be closed for days or weeks. He added that the concrete
industry believed that quick-setting concrete overlays would soon be a viable option on
even the busiest of highways, where closing lanes for long periods caused unacceptable
traffic congestion. Since then, two decades have passed and even quicker setting mixes
which can become hard enough to take traffic within hours, have been developed.
Another example of a full-depth inlay is reported from Iowa (Ref. 29). 25 mm of an
existing 330 mm bituminous pavement was cold-milled and removed. In its place a 250
mm plain concrete slab was slipformed. The removed bituminous material was recycled
to raise the existing bituminous shoulder to match with the surface of the new concrete
pavement.
Since 1976, Utah has used plain concrete to resurface certain sections of Interstate
routes which had been badly distorted. Based on extensive research and economic
analysis, it was established that plain concrete resurfacing of distressed flexible
pavements could result in savings through less frequent sealing and resurfacing (Ref.
23). The minimum thickness for concrete resurfacing over bituminous pavement
adopted by Utah has been 250 mm.
Fibre reinforced concrete resurfacings on flexible pavements have also been carried out in
USA (Ref. 21). These relate mainly to airport aprons. Good performance has been
reported.
As far back as 1982, the NCHRP Synthesis (Ref. 21) summed up the USA's experience
with white-topping as under:
"All five types of concrete (as described in Chapter 4 of this publication) have been used
successfully to resurface existing flexible pavements. The existing flexible pavement is
used as a high-quality foundation and the design and construction of the resurfacing are
essentially the same as for the same type of concrete pavement. Unless the existing
surface is badly distorted, no surface preparation is necessary; however, isolated, failed
or badly distressed areas should be repaired to maintain uniformity. Should the surface
be badly distorted, it can be levelled with a levelling course or by surface grinding (cold-
milling etc)".
In a later report (1994) (Ref. 15), covering the performance of a number of white-topping
projects, it is concluded that:
White-topping is an increasingly popular use of PCC resurfacing as a
rehabilitation or structural strengthening alternative on AC (Asphaltic Concrete the
US term for bituminous surfacing) pavement".
A 200 mm plain concrete white-topping overlay laid in 1966 in California was reviewed in
1989, when the road had carried more than 10 million ESALs (Equivalent Standard Axle
Loads) and was considered to be in excellent condition. Another overlay 150 mm in
Iowa had carried truck traffic to a grain elevator for some 20 years and was rated in fair
condition with some mid-panel cracking of 12 m long slabs.
Many inlay projects have been implemented since then and it has been concluded that to
enhance the performance of inlay projects, positive load transfer and positive
drainage features are essential.
The American Concrete Pavement Association, in a recent report has summarised the
state of practice of Whitetopping and one can infer that it is by now an accepted option of
overlay in USA (Ref. 30).
A detailed study of white-topping projects in the USA revealed that Life-cycle economic
analysis was a major consideration, besides lane closure traffic delays. The economic
analysis included:
• se rv ice life
• initial cost
• maintenance costs
• future rehabilitation requirements
• cost of maintenance of traffic
The AASHTO Pavement Design Guide (Ref. 26) recognises that a jointed concrete
pavement (plain or reinforced) or continuously reinforced concrete pavement as an
overlay can be placed on an existing bituminous pavement to improve both structural
capacity and functional conditions. It mentions that a PCC overlay is a feasible
rehabilitation alte rn ative for bituminous pavements for practically all conditions, and it is
most cost effective when the existing pavement is badly deteriorated. It also says that
PCC overlays have been successfully constructed as thin as 125 mm and as thick as
300 mm. 175-250 mm has been the typical thickness for most highway overlays.
3.5. U.K.

The first application of concrete overlays on a flexible pavement in UK in 1981 was

reported by Gregory (Ref. 31). In U.K., much of the major road network has already
been built. Thus, the strengthening of the existing pavements, particularly those of
flexible construction, is likely to play a much larger part than new construction, in the
roads programme. Though the strengthening practice hitherto was flexible overlays, the
possibility of overlaying in concrete has been under consideration in that country. As an
experimental project, a CRCP overlay was constructed on certain sections of Truck
Road A2, aggregating to 5.5 km in length. A thickness of 200 mm was used. The steel
percentage adopted was 0.65 per cent. A conventional paving train was used for
construction in one-lane widths. The following comparison of relative costs is presented:
a) 200 mm CRCP overlay - 100
b) 300 mm bituminous overlay - 101 (same traffic capacity as (a) above)
c) Reconstruction - 159
It is seen that CRCP overlay is slightly cheaper than a bituminous overlay for an
equivalent design. A more competitive bid rate for CRCP could have been possible if a
longer length was involved. Gregory concluded (Ref. 31) that:-
"...CRCP overlays appear to be very competitive in cost of construction when
compared with other forms of strengthening".
The Report of Great Britain to the XVII World Road Congress at Sydney, 1983 contained the
following (Ref. 32):
"Since the last Congress, experience has been gained using CRCP overlays
(essentially add-on layers) to old concrete and fatigued flexible road pavements as
a strengthening operation. More work of this nature is inevitable as road
pavements reach the end of their initial design life. Consideration is also being
given to the use of other methods for pavement strengthening and partial
reconstruction. These include a variety of concrete pavement slab types using a
CRCB (continuously reinforced concrete base with a flexible wearing course)
inlay set into the old pavement structure."
In another report (Ref. 33) it was indicated that close control of the concrete and the
conditions under which it was laid were necessary to obtain good performance. It was
also inferred that preliminary shaping of the existing pavement surface by milling was
desirable.
Another example of concrete overlay in UK was on a 5 km length of motorway (M18)
(Ref. 34). A condition survey of the existing flexible pavement indicated that major
maintenance was required in the form of overlays to give the pavement the required
additional 20 years of life; besides which, in certain sections, the critical stage had
already been passed and hence total reconstruction was necessary. Alternative bids
were invited for the work, and it was found that CRCP was the least expensive, at 67 per
cent of the cost of flexible reconstruction, and 83 per cent of the cost of constructing a
300 mm thick bituminous overlay. It was therefore decided to overlay the existing
pavement with 225 mm CRCP, having 0.65 percent of high-yield deformed steel
reinforcement.
3.6. Conclusion
As many countries are now facing serious problems of road maintenance and
rehabilitation, engineers are constantly on the search for cost-effective solutions. The
use of cement concrete overlays on bituminous pavements is one such promising
answer. It is technologically feasible and, based on whole-life-cycle-cost, is economical as
well. The performance of white-topped roads already constructed is encouraging. In
addition, concrete overlays fit in well with the need to reduce bitumen consumption as
the cost of this material is constantly on the rise.
 CHAPTER 4

TYPES OF OVERLAYS

4.1. Common types of concrete overlays on bituminous surfaces

A review of successful white-topping projects indicates that the following are the
common types of concrete overlays on bituminous surfaces:
1. Jointed Unreinforced Concrete Pavement (JUCP)
2. Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavement (JRCP)
3. Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP)
4. Fibre Reinforced Concrete
5. Prestressed Concrete
These are described in subsequent paras of this Chapter. Another type of overlay,
Ultra-thin White-topping, is dealt with in Chapter 5.
4.2. Jointed Unreinforced Concrete Pavement (JUCP)
Plain unreinforced concrete overlays on bituminous surfaces are jointed slabs. Dowel
bars and tie bars are provided as in a new pavement. The joints are generally sawn.
4.3. Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavement (JRCP)
Reinforcement, when provided in concrete slabs, is intended to hold the fractured faces at
cracks tightly closed together, so as to prevent deterioration of the cracks and to
maintain aggregate interlock thereat for load transfer (Ref. 35). It does not increase the
flexural strength of the unbroken slab when used in quantities that are considered
economical. Where slabs are provided adequately with joints to control cracking, such
reinforcement is not required. The nominal longitudinal reinforcement, if at all provided, is
about 0.2 to 0.3 per cent of the cross-sectional area. For example if the slab is 30 cm
100 OOx0.3
thick, the area of longitudinal steel per metre width of slab = = 9 cm2.
Provide 12 mmdia bars at 12 cm spacing giving 9.42 cm2 per metre width.
Conventionally reinforced concrete slabs have no particular advantage over the plain
concrete slabs, except to hold the fractured faces at the cracks and increase the spacing
of transverse joints (from 4-5 m to 200-250 mm). Hence they are not commonly
adopted.
4.4. Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CROP)
CRCP as an overlay, contains continuous longitudinal steel reinforcement with no
intermediate transverse joints. Transverse reinforcement may or may not be used (Ref.
21). The thickness of CRCP overlay is substantially lower than that of a plain concrete
overlay, but the economy achieved by this reduction is often offset by the cost of extra
steel. The economics of both types of pavement need to be worked out in detail, to
establish which alternative is cheaper. The cost of aggregates, cement and steel are the
crucial factors in costing. However, it must also be borne in mind that CRCP eliminates
the need to maintain the joints and the discomfort of too many joints. CRCP is thus able to
provide a very good riding quality, so desirable for superior facilities like Expressways, and
hence is the preferred choice in many countries.
4.5. Fibre Reinforced Concrete
Fibre reinforced concrete is a technique whereby short fibres of steel, polypropylene or
other material are randomly dispersed into the concrete during mixing, to provide
reinforcement in all directions. Thus cracking is very closely controlled. The cost of
fibres is, however, substantial and hence the economics of fibre-reinforced concrete has to
be carefully worked out before its use is recommended.
When fibre reinforced concrete is used, it is possible to reduce the overlay thickness.
The following formula may be used (Ref. 36),

fPCC
hSFRC hPcc
fSFRC

where h SFRC required slab thickness of SFRC, cm

hPcc = required slab thickness of PCC, cm

fpcc = design flexural strength of PCC, MPa

fSFRC = design flexural strength of SFRC, MPa

The following example illustrates the use of the formula:

The 28-day flexural strength of plain concrete is 5MPa, whereas with the addition of 1
per cent of steel fibres it increases to 8MPa. The thickness of overlay with plain
concrete is 250 mm. What is the thickness of the overlay with steel fibres?

hpcc = 250

fpcc 5

fSFRC =
8

hSFRC = 250
8

= 250 0.625

= 250 x 0.79
= 198, say 200 mm

4.6. Prestressed Concrete

Prestressing dramatically increases the strength of concrete and its load-carrying
capacity and hence is generally used in bridges and tall buildings. The technique can
also be used for concrete pavements and white toppings. The inherent high strength of
prestressed concrete resurfacings makes it possible to use this technique in situations
where the overlay has to restore or increase the load-carrying capacity of existing
pavements. However, as a resurfacing material, prestressed concrete can still be
considered to be in the experimental or developmental stage.
4.7. Summing up
Out of the five types of concrete available for white-topping, interest is presently
centered on two, viz. Jointed Unreinforced Concrete Pavement (JUCP) and CRCP.
Both are widely used for the purpose. The choice between the two is essentially one of
their comparative economics for a specific case.
 CHAPTER 5

ULTRA THIN WHITE-TOPPING

5.1. Definition
Concrete overlays on structurally deficient and distressed flexible pavements have been
in common use for over 60 years now. These overlays are designed as new concrete
pavements resting on the bituminous layers, by analyzing the stresses on the basis of
Westergaard theory, and taking advantage of the higher value of subgrade support
(modulus of subgrade reaction) provided by the existing pavement. These overlays are
generally thicker than 125 mm, and may even be 200-250 mm thick. They are called
"conventional" white-topping, to distinguish them from a new form of white-topping of
thickness 50-125 mm which has emerged since the 1990s. Because of their lesser
thickness, these new type of concrete pavements go by the name of Ultra-Thin-White-
Topping (UTWT).
The first project of UTWT reported in literature was built in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, in
1991 (Ref. 37) as an experimental project. The successful performance of this project
has given adequate confidence to highway engineers to adopt the technique on other
projects.
In fact, three,types of white-topping are now recogniized:-
(i) Conventional white-topping of thickness greater than 200 mm
(ii) Thin white-topping of thickness 125-200 mm
(iii) Ultra-thin white-topping of thickness less than 125 mm
Conventional white-topping has already been dealt with earlier. This Chapter deals with
UTWT, of a thickness of 50-125 mm.
5.2. Difference between Conventional White-topping and UTWT
In the conventional white-topping, the bituminous surface is considered as a sub-base
providing a uniform and firm support to the overlay concrete slab. The concrete slab is
designed in the same way as a new concrete pavement resting on a sub-base, using the
classical Westergaard's theory. The sub-base only provide vertical reaction and does
not take care of the bending stresses. Since the overlay slab acts independently, its
thickness is substantial.
In UTWT, the asphalt surface is milled and the concrete overlay is bonded to it.
Because of the resultant bonding action, a true composite pavement, results, reducing
the load-induced stresses in the concrete overlay. As a result, the overlay thickness is
reduced. By bonding, much of the load is transferred down into the bituminous part of
the pavement structure, thus keeping the stresses in the concrete well within acceptable
limits. As the bonded concrete slab thickness is reduced, less load is carried by it and the
asphalt layer carries more load. As the thickness of the concrete slab is increased, it
carries more of the load, transferring less of it to the asphalt layer. The performance of
the composite pavement depends on the thickness and strength of both the overlay and
the asphalt layer and hence, it is necessary that there must be a sufficient thickness of
asphalt layer for the technique to be economical and. successful. Usually a minimum
thickness of 75 mm of asphalt layer (after milling) is needed.
When the concrete overlay bonds with the asphalt layer, the neutral axis of stress
distribution shifts from the middle of the concrete section towards the bottom of the
concrete. This shifting lowers the tensile stresses at the bottom of the concrete to a
value that the thin concrete can withstand (Ref. 37, 38).
The mechanism of load transfer in UTWT is different from the load transfer in a
conventional concrete pavement. A reference to Fig. 8 shows the difference. Traditional
concrete pavements are designed to counter the load through bending action and hence
are made thick enough to resist stresses induced by bending. In UTWT, short joint
spacings result in a small panel size. As a result, the slabs deflect instead of bending.
5.3. Features of UTWT
5.3.1. The following are some of the features of UTWT
1. Smaller dimensions of panels
2. High strength concrete
3. Use of fibres
5.3.2. Smaller dimensions of panels
In order to minimize the stresses due to curling and warping, the panel dimensions are
kept very small. As against 3-4 m x 3-5 m in a conventional concrete slab, the panels in
UTWT are 0.6 m-1.2 m square. The thumb rule is to keep the maximum joint spacing in
UTWT between 12 to 15 times the slab thickness (Ref. 38)_ Thus, if the slab thickness is
100 mm, a pane! size of about 1.2 x 1.2 m is recommended.
5.3.3. Concrete strength

Since UTWT is laid on existing roads, traffic interruptions and delays involved in curing
and strength gain of conventional concrete cannot be tolerated. Highway authorities do
not tolerate a traffic delay of more than 24 hours. Due to this, the strength of the
concrete within 24 hours should be sufficiently high, ie., in the region of 25-30 MPa. This
can be achieved through the use of water reducers, fibres and a low water-cement ratio. In
one demonstration project in Louisville, Kentucky, (Ref. 39), in 1991, a UTWT
pavement was constructed to be of a thickness that varied between 50 and 90 mm. The
mix was produced to give a strength of 27.6 MPa in 18 hours, using high range water
reducers, polypropylene fibres and a water-cement ratio of 0.33.
5.3.4. Use of fibres
Since the thickness of UTWT is small, and the overlay is expected to be thrown open to
traffic in one or two days, one of the means employed to increase the strength is through
the use of fibres. Fibres can be of steel or polypropylene. These fibres improve the
UTWT in the following ways.
• yield high strength concrete which can be opened to traffic in one or
two days
• control cracking
• provide better resistance to impact, shock and thermal stresses
• improve fatigue resistance
 • reduce the amount of intrusion by aggressive environment
• increase the flexural strength by 20 to 150 per cent
• improve resistance to abrasion
if steel fibres are used, the aspect ratio (ie. length/diameter) should be in the range of
50-100 (Ref. 36). The diameter of the fibres can vary from 0.5 to 1.0 mm. The quantity to
be used is 40-200 Kg/cum (0.5-2.5 per cent by volume).
Polymeric fibres are polypropylene or polyester and include-
• rayon
• nylon
• polyethylene
cellulose acetate
• PVA fibres
Fibrillated or triangular fibres provide a better bond than plain fibres. The diameter of the
fibres is about 0.04 mm. The fibres must have a reasonably good tensile strength and
high elastic modulus. The quantity of fibres used is in the range of 1-2 Kg per cum of
concrete.
5.4. Construction features
Three operations are involved in UTWT construction-
* preparation of the existing surface
• placing, finishing and curing of the concrete
• cutting/sawing of joints at the prescribed spacings
the performance of UTWT depends upon the formation of a good bond between the
overlay and the existing bituminous surface. To develop this bond, the existing surface is
milled, which creates a rough surface that "grabs" the concrete. Milling must be
followed by cleaning so that all loose particles that can hinder bonding are eliminated.
Paving for an UTWT can be done in the same manner as a conventional concrete
pavement. Conventional hand-held vibrating screeds, slip-form pavers or fixed-form
pavers can be used. Normal finishing and texturing procedures are applied. Proper
curing is important to avoid shrinkage cracking and debonding between the bituminous
surface and concrete overlay. Curing compound is applied at twice the normal rate,
because the overlay, being thin, has a high surface area to volume ratio and there are
chances, that water may be lost rapidly due to evaporation. During the application of the
curing compound, care should be taken that the curing compound is not sprayed on the
adjacent uncovered prepared bitumen surface, since that would prevent bonding.
Joint sawing is carried out with lightweight portable saws as early as possible, (with in 6
hrs) to control cracking. The depth of the saw cut should be approximately one-fourth to
one-third of the total depth of the overlay. The width of the joints is about 3mm.
Typically, UTWT joints are not sealed. Test studies have shown that the UTWT overlay
performs well without sealants because the compactness of the slabs minimize joint
movement.
If the concrete develops a strength of 25-30 MPa within 24 hours, traffic can be allowed
over the slabs when the concrete is one day old.
5.5. Looking to the future
UTWT has not been tried out in India so far (except for a very short, four-lane, 30 metre
length in Pune), though the Central Road Research Institute is planning to lay an
experimental stretch in Delhi. The study will be watched with great interest.
However, there have been many successful UTWT projects implemented abroad. The
Louisville experiment (see para 5.1 above) has successfully withstood traffic consisting of
400-600 trucks per day. About 2,00,000 ESALs passed over the pavement in one year
(Ref. 39). UTWT overlays have been constructed in Brazil and Canada (Ref. 38). The
Canadian project has a thickness of 100 mm with a concrete that developed a
compressive strength of 20 MPa in 24 hours and 35 MPa at 28 days. The traffic on this
route is reported to consist of heavy trucks. The road is giving good service-
In Alabama, USA, two UTWT overlays have been constructed on heavily travelled
bituminous pavements, and the performance is reported to be good (Ref. 41).
The success of UTWT has prompted the introduction of this technique in the
forth coming revision of AASHTO Design Guide (Ref. 40).
Considering the serious problems faced by highway and city engineers in maintaining
bituminous surfaced roads, UTWT holds great promise since it is economical, fast-track
and maintenance free.
Further research is needed to evolve a simple design methodology for this type of
overlay.
 CHAPTER 6

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONVENTIONAL OVERLAYS

6.1. General requirements

The design of conventional concrete overlays is essentially a ' blend of engineering
analysis and experience of past performance. For concrete overlays on concrete
surfaces, empirical equations have been developed and used extensively for airfield and
highway pavements. But for concrete overlays on existing bituminous pavements, the
procedure adopted is to treat the existing pavement as a high quality foundation and
calculate the slab thickness in the usual manner as for a new pavement. The following
requirements must be kept in view:-
1. Thickness must be adequate for the anticipated loads and the number of their
repetitions, over the design period.
2. Joints (longitudinal and transverse) must be able to transfer the
superimposed loads without impairment of rideability. The joints should
minimize the migration of moisture and fine solids through the overlay as well
as between it and the underlying pavement.
3. Concrete must be of adequate strength to withstand the stresses induced by
loads and temperature. The fatigue characteristics of concrete must be
accounted for.
4. The mix design selected must be able to achieve the minimum desirable
strength of concrete in the field, taking into account statistical variability of the
material.
6.2. Evaluation of the existing pavement and suitability criteria
The first step in the design of an overlay is the evaluation of the existing pavement
condition and structural capacity. A visual condition survey which covers distress
features like cracks, ruts, potholes, ravelling and settlements is generally able to provide a
subjective assessment of the pavement condition. The thickness and composition of the
pavement can be determined through trial cores. But a real knowledge of the
structural adequacy or otherwise of the pavement can come only through some
standardized tests. For designing flexible overlays, the common tests are CBR, DCP
(Dynamic Cone Penetrometer) of the subgrade at the field density and Benkelman Beam
deflection. More modem methods such as the Falling Weight Deflectometer and
Dynaflect or Deflectograph are still not in common use in India. The above test
methods, however, fail in giving the design thickness of concrete overlays. The basic
requirement for designing a concrete slab is the modulus of subgrade reaction, k. In the
case of a new pavement, the k value of the soil subgrade is determined. In the case of an
existing pavement which has to be resurfaced, the k value at the surface of the
existing pavement is determined. The usual method followed is a plate-bearing test. As k
value is influenced by test plate diameter, the standard procedure is to use a 75 cm dia.
plate. However, since it is more convenient to use a smaller dia. plate, e.g. 30 cm, the
latter is often adopted. The following approximate conversion then holds good:-
 k75 =0.5k 30

But this conversion is generally valid for homogenous foundations and may not hold
good for layered construction. Hence, in the case of an existing pavement, as one is
dealing with a series of layers, caution is needed.
Where it is not possible to carry out the plate-bearing test, the k value may be
approximately determined from the known CBR values. The following table (Table 1)
can be used (Ref. 35).
Table I
Approximate Relationship between "k" Value and CBR Value
CBR %a 2 3 4 5 7 10 20 50 100
k (Kg/cm3) 2.08 2.77 3.46 4.16 4.84 5.54 6.92 13.85 22.16

A correlation between k value and the Benkelman Beam deflection has been presented
by Sherman and Hannon (Ref. 42). This is likely to be of great use to Indian engineers
because Benkelman Beam deflections are easily determined. This correlation is given in
Fig. 9.
The practice abroad is to prescribe a maximum limit to the k-value. The U.S. Corps of
Engineers lay down that in no case a k value greater than 13.85 Kg/cm3 (500 psi/in) be
used in (Ref. 21). Sherman and Hannon (Ref. 42) prescribe a limit of 16.61 Kg/cm3 (600
psi/in). These practices appear to be arbitrary and the rationale behind fixing maximum
limits on k value is not known.
Since many of the flexible pavements in India have Water Bound Macadam as the base
course and relatively thin bituminous surfacings, it would be appropriate to assume
k=300 lbstin2/in or 8 kg/cm3 in such cases. For roads with bituminous layers of thickness of
100 mm and above, a k value of 11.1 can be considered. This corresponds to a
Benkelman Beam deflection of about 1.2 mm, which is common in India.
6.3. Axle load
The legal axle load in the country is 10.2 tonnes. However, overloading of trucks
appears to be quite common and axle loads of 18 tonnes may often be met, especially on
the heavily trafficked National Highways. Axle load surveys carried out for many
National Highway projects have revealed substantial overloading of trucks.
Such gross overloading of trucks (which still have a single-axle, dual-wheel assembly)
points towards the necessity of increasing the design axle loads for purposes of
designing pavements, both rigid and flexible. If the present overloading trend continues, it
would be in order to consider 18 tonnes axle load for the design of cement concrete
roads subjected to "heavy" traffic, 15 tonnes for the "normal" traffic and 10.2 tonnes for
light traffic, as given in Table 3.
Table 3
Design Loads for Different Traffic Categories
Traffic Catego rySingle-Axle Load
Heavy 18 tonnes
Medium 15 tonnes
Light 10.2 tonnes

The exact load to be selected for design purposes can be more realistically determined on
the basis of axle load spectrum studies. The 98`x' percentile load is generally
considered for design (Ref. 35). In this publication, axle loads ranging from 10.2 tonnes to
18 tonnes have been considered. A tyre pressure of 8 kg/cm2 (0.8 MPa) can be
considered in the design, it being the commonly used value in heavily loaded trucks.
6.4. Concrete strength and grade of concrete
As per IRC Guidelines (Ref. 34) a 28-day flexural strength is to be adopted, as the f
lexural action governs design of a concrete slab. The flexural strength is calculated
from the compressive strength by using the formula (Ref. 44).

fcr = 0.7 f
ck
where fcr e f lexural strength MPa

fck e compressive strength MPa

Thus, using a 40 MPa strength concrete, the flexural strength allowable is 4.4 MPa
6.5. Design for fatigue criteria
In the IRC design procedure, fatigue of the concrete pavement is accounted for by
considering the stress ratio, defined as the ratio of actual stress in the pavement, to the
modulus of rupture. The stress ratios and allowable load repetitions are given in
Tahlp Q
 Table 4
Stress Ratio and Allowable Repetitions in Cement Concrete
Allowable Allowable
Stress Ratio RepetitionsStress Ratio Repetitions
0.45 6.279x107 0.66 5.83x103
0.46 1.4335x107 0.67 4.41x103
0.47 5.2x106 0.68 3.34x103
0.48 2.4x106 0.69 2531
0.49 1.287x106 0.70 1970
0.50 7.62x105 0.71 1451
0.51 5.85x105 0.72 1099
0.52 3.26x105 0.73 832
0.53 2.29x105 0.74 630
0.54 1.66x 105 0.75 477
0.55 1.24x105 0.76 361
0.56 9.41x104 0.77 274
0.57 7.12x104 0.78 207
0.58 5.4x104 0.79 157
0.59 4.08x104 0.80 119
0.60 3.09x104 0.81 90
0.61 2.34x104 0.82 68
0.62 1.77x104 0.83 52
0.63 1.34x104 0.84 39
0.64 1.02x104 0.85 30
0.65 7.7x103

Since fatigue failure will always be at the end of design life of 20-30 years, it is felt that
the 90 day flexural strength should be selected for checking design against fatigue
failure instead of the 28 days strength. The 90 day flexural strength can be taken as 1.2
times the 28 day flexural strength.
 6.6. Stress due to temperature
The temperature stress at the critical edge region of the concrete slab may be obtained
as per Westergaard's analysis using Bradbury's coefficient from the following equation:
EATaC
Ste 2
Ste = temperature stress in the edge region, kg/cm2

E = modulus of elasticity of concrete, kgicm2

AT = maximum temperature differential during day between top
and bottom of the slab, °C
a = coefficient of thermal expansion of cement concrete per °C
C = Bradbury's coefficient, which can be ascertained directly
from Bradbury's chart against values of U f and B/ e
(Fig. 10)
L = slab length, or spacing between consecutive contraction
joints, cm
B = width of slab, cm
f = radius of relative stiffness, cm

(1 _
4

12 2 )k

w e Poisson's ratio
h = thickness of the concrete slab, cm
k modulus of subgrade reaction, kg/cm3
The values of Bradbury's coefficient C are presented in the form of a
chart in Fig.10
6.7. Corner stress

The load stress in the corner region may be obtained as per Westergaard's analysis,
modified by Kelly, from the following equation:
1.21
3P
Sc 1-
h2

where Sc = load stress in the comer region, other notations remaining

the same as in the case of edge load stress formula, kg/cm2
P = Wheel Load, kg
a = radius of equivalent circular contact area, cm
The temperature stress in the corner region is negligible, as the corners are relatively
free to warp and therefore, may be ignored.
6.8. Sample design
A sample design is given in Appendix I
Table 5 gives the thickness arrived at for the common traffic loads. It also gives the
thickness as per Portland Cement Association (PCA) method (Ref. 58).
Fig. 11 gives a best fit line for the values in Table 3, which can be used as a rough
guide.
Table 5
Wheel Loads Considered and Thickness Required
Traffic Thickness
Classification Wheel Load Thickness as per PCA
(Kg) (mm) Method (mm)
1. Low 5000 kg 190 200
2. Medium 7500 kg 240 240
3. High 9000 kg 270 260

6.9. Comparison of thickness adopted in other countries

The French practice in designing concrete overlays on flexible pavements which has
been in vogue is by applying the analytical models (Ref. 19) for determination of
stresses. Traffic is determined in terms of repetitions of standard axles over the design
life. Fatigue performance of concrete is accounted for. The thickness of overlay is
related to the deflections. The range of thickness is as under:
Table 6
Overlay Thickness
Traffic (during design life) Thickness of Overlay (cm)
9 million standard axles (msa) 23 - 28
3.5msa 21-27
2.0 msa 20 - 25
0.64 msa 19 - 24

The actual thickness of concrete overlays on flexible pavement, as constructed in

France, varies from 17 to 20 cm. Long length of these pavements, which were in service
for more than 10 years were reported to be giving excellent performance. They had
carried more than 50 percent of the total planned for load repetitions, at the time of
examination.
The thickness adopted for CRCP overlays on flexible pavements in U.K. projects vary
from 20 to 22.5 cm (Ref. 32, 33).
In Utah (USA), a thickness of 25 cm of plain concrete overlay on flexible pavements has
been the rule for the past few decades (Ref. 21). The thickness adopted for main roads in
many other American states is in the range of 20-30 cm.
On secondary roads in Iowa (USA), the overlay thickness has been of the order of 15 cm
(Ref. 28).
The overlay thickness adopted since the last 20 years in Belgium is as under (Ref. 45).

Overlay Thickness
rac
Plain Concrete CRCP
1. Medium to dense 20 to 23 cm 18 to 20 cm
2. Low 15 to 20 cm 15 to 18 cm

It would thus appear, that the design thickness obtained from IRC:58 guidelines
(Ref. 35) are generally higher than international practice. This points to the need for a
closer look into IRC guidelines. The high thickness obtained from IRC:58 may also be
due to having to cater for the severe overloading prevalent in our country, and possibly
due to the conservative provisions in the IRC Guidelines.
 CHAPTER 7

ECONOMICS OF CONVENTIONAL WHITE-TOPPING

7.1. Purpose of Economic Analysis

Those familiar with the advantages and superiority of cement concrete pavements are
convinced that this pavement type should always be considered as an alternative to the
conventional bituminous construction. But an impression exists in the minds of many
engineers that cement concrete roads are costly and the nation cannot afford such
expensive specifications. After all, they argue, there is a serious constraint of resources
in the roads sector and whatever little is available should be used to construct the
maximum lengths. However, the point to be noted is that when scarce resources have
to be optimally utilized, all the available alternatives should be considered, and the one
that brings in the maximum benefits should be selected for implementation. Highway
engineering economic analysis is one useful tool that is available for a scientific
assessment of the consequences of adoption of the different options available it
pavement construction.
7.2. Initial cost as decision criterion
Highway engineering designs were so far based almost exclusively on the initial cost
criterion. The rationale was that, with the existing constraint of funds, the designs
selected had to be very economical even to start with. Hence low-cost specifications
and the resulting small design life period were invariably adopted. Stage constructior
strategies i.e. building up the required pavement thickness, layer by layer, over ar
extended period of time, thus had an important role. While these policies fitted in wel
with the needs of the past, it is increasingly being felt that initial cost as the sole decisior
criterion can no longer be accepted. The BIS has therefore issued instructions, (IS-
13174:1991), keeping the future consequences of adoption of low initial cost solutions it
view, that whole-life-cycle cost comparisons must invariably be made, when deciding
between alternative techniques or materials. However, initial cost considerations cannot be
completely done away with in a resource-scarce economy such as still exists in India.
7.3. Whole-life-cycle-cost concept
A rational approach to selecting pavement types should start with the identification of
various potential design alternatives, each capable of providing the required
performance. Thereafter, the consequences of each design option over the required
period of time should be studied. The consequences should include the cost of routine
maintenance of the pavement over its life, the cost of major resurfacings that may be
needed at various stages in future and the cost borne by the users of the facility. The
future costs can be discounted to present values by selecting an appropriate discount
rate and these can then be added to the initial cost, to give the total life-cycle-cost.
Once this is done, the alternative that has the least life-cycle cost should be the choice
for construction. In order to present the analyst with various scenarios based on
changes in major policy variables or cost inputs, a sensitivity analysis is generally carried
out.
The steps involved in whole-life-cycle-costing are:
Statement of the problem, which in the present case is pavement design for
conditions existing at the site (subgrade soil, materials, traffic, environment etc.).
 2. Generation of alternative designs, covering various specifications and materials.
3. Evaluation of the designs including estimation of initial costs, maintenance costs,
rehabilitation costs and user costs, and converting them to today's monetary
value through a discounted cash flow analysis. A sensitivity analysis is carried
out to determine if any change in the assumptions has a significant effect on the
analysis.
4. The final step is the selection of the lowest-life-cycle-cost alternative.
7.4. Equitable comparison
For an unbiased selection of design, the comparison of life-cycle-cost of the various
alternatives must be equitable. In the case of pavement overlays, the comparison must
extend for a period equal to the life expectancy of the cement concrete alternative, since it
happens to be much higher than the flexible pavement life. In that period, all
interventions in the flexible pavement by way of resurfacings and major rehabilitation,
must be accounted for, as should be any costs incurred on the concrete pavement (e.g.
replenishing joint filler). The overlay design itself must be on a common basis. For
example, a concrete overlay is intended to strengthen the existing pavement for
withstanding the present and future traffic, making good the deficiency fully. For an
equitable comparison, the flexible pavement too must be designed to make up the
thickness deficiency fully. There is no room for incorporating ad-hoc overlay provisions in
a scientific analysis. This must be borne in mind because decisions on flexible
overlay thickness tend to be rather tentative in this country. This is because of the
assurance given by proponents of bituminous surfaces that as and when deficiencies
crop up in future, they can always be made good by repairs or rehabilitation,
7.5. Traffic
The design of overlays is governed by the present-day traffic, the axle load spectrum
and the future rate of growth. Each case has to be examined in detail. For the purpose of
the analysis here, three classes of traffic are considered:

Design Axle Load (single-axle, dual wheel assembly)

Heavy : 18 tonnes
Normal : 15 tonnes
Light : 10 tonnes
A traffic growth rate of 8 percent will be considered.

7.6. Thickness of concrete overlays

From Table 5, the thickness of plain cement concrete overlays will be:
Traffic Plain Concrete Thickness
(mm)
Heavy
270
Medium
240
Low/Light
190

7.7. Thickness of flexible overlays

The actual thickness of flexible overlay needed, depends upon various factors such as
soil strength, existing pavement thickness, composition of the existing pavement and
condition of the pavement. Thus, many variations are possible. Each individual case
will have to be examined separately. For the limited purpose of an equitable
comparison, it will be assumed that the flexible overlay will be of a thickness at least
equal to the values given in IRC:81-1997, (Ref. 9) corresponding to a Benkelman Beam
Deflection of 1.5 mm to start with and 1.2 mm at the end of every 10 years thereafter.
The overlay thickness can be made up of suitable specifications. The following
composition is considered:
TABLE 7
FLEXIBLE OVERLAY THICKNESS AND COMPOSITION AT THE START

Flexible Overlay
Traffic Thickness (mm) Composition of Overlay
in terms of BC and DBM
Heavy (100 msa) 140 50 mm BC+90mm DBM
Medium (50 msa) 115 40 mm BC+75mm DBM
Light (10 msa) 60 20 mm BC+40mm DBM
Note:
BC : Bituminous Concrete
DBM : Dense Bituminous Macadam
7.8. Maintenance and rehabilitation interventions
It will be assumed that bituminous overlays need the following interventions during the
analysis period.
10tt' 20th, 30th years : 50 mm BC+75 mm DBM for Heavy traffic,
40 mm BC+75 mm DBM for medium traffic and
20 mm BC+40 mm DBM for Light traffic
Surface renewals are provided as per MORTH (Ref. 5) as under:

1. Heavy Traffic 25 mm BC once in 5 years

2.Medium Traffic 25 mm SDBC once in 5 years
3.Light Traffic 20 mm PC once in 5 years
BC Bituminous Concrete
SDBC Semi Dense Bituminous Concrete
PC Premix Carpet
The cost of ordinary repairs for 2-lane NHISH for bituminous pavement has been taken
from MORTH Norms (Ref. 5) as under:
Rs./Km at Rs./Km at
1999-2000 prices 2004 prices
1. Heavy Traffic 98,028 1,25,000
2.Medium Traffic 91,268 1,15, 000
3.Light Traffic 78,049 1,00,000
For concrete pavements, an adhoc amount of Rs. 50,000 per Km has been considered
which represents the cost of repairs to earthen shoulders, embankments, cross-drainage
structures, joints, road furniture, road markings etc.
 7.9. Cost of materials
Cement in bags is available in the country at prices in the rage Rs. 140-160 per bag (Rs.
2800-3200 per Tonne). If cement is procured in bulk and transported by mobile silos, its
price can be somewhat less. The cost of fly-ash is taken as Rs. 500 per tonne,
representing transport cost. Cost of lime is taken as Rs. 1000 per Tonne.
Modified Bitumen in bulk is available in the price range of Rs. 15,000- 16,000 per tonne.
Modified bitumen is considered only for the surfacing courses. For lower layers of DBM,
ordinary bitumen at Rs. 13,000 per Tonne is considered.
Cost of steel is taken as Rs. 25,000 per Tonne.
Stone aggregates are available at cheap rates in certain areas whereas in some other
areas, they are costlier, as they involve long leads. A range of prices of stone materials
thus also needs to be taken into account.
Table 8 gives the prices of aggregates considered, demarcating the country into six
zones.
TABLE 8
PRICES OF AGGREGATES CONSIDERED
(Rs. PER cum)

Aggregate Type
Stone Aggregates Zone IZone IIZone IIIZone IVZone VZone VI
25-40 mm 350 440 500 600 700 900
10-25 mm 370 470 550 650 750 950
6-10 mm 400 500 600 700 800 1000
0-6 mm (stone dust) 150 200 250 300 350 400
Sand 300 350 400 450 450 450
7.10. Analysis of rates of typical work items
Analysis of rates of typical work items has been made as per the Standard Data Book of
the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (Ref. 57). Based on these, and the
various updated prices of materials given in Para 7.9, the rates of important items of
work at 2004 prices have been worked out and given in Table 9.
*Note: Areas coming under the various zones are:

Zone I : Andhra Pradesh (some parts), Gujarat (some parts), Madhya Pradesh,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab (some parts), Rajasthan
(some parts), Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal (some parts), Goa,
Haryana (some parts), Delhi
Zone II : Andhra Pradesh (some parts), Assam, Gujarat (some parts), Kerala,
Haryana (some parts), Uttaranchal (some parts), Punjab (some parts),
Uttar Pradesh (some parts), Rajasthan (some parts), Manipur,
Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu and Kashmir (some parts)
Zone III : Orissa (interior parts), Parts of Punjab (Plains), Rajasthan (parts), Parts
of Andhra Pradesh (delta region)
Zone IV : Orissa (delta region), Jammu & Kashmir (some parts), W. Bengal
(some parts), Bihar (some parts)
Zone V : Bihar (some parts), W. Bengal (some parts), Mizoram
Zone VI : Uttar Pradesh (Plains), Bihar (Plains), West Bengal (Plains), Tripura
 TABLE 9

RATES OF SELECTED ITEMS OF WORKS

(RSICUM) AT 2004 PRICES

Rate of ModifiedRate of Ordinary Rate of Cement

SI. Zo Bitumen (Rs1T) Bitumen (RsIT) (Rs!T)
Item of Work
No. e
15,000 16,000 13,000 2,800 3,200
1. Dense I 2,695
Bituminous II
Macadam 2,825
III 2,940
IV 3,080
V 3,215
VI 3,445
2. Bituminous I 3,335 3,480
Concrete
II 3,480 3,620
III 3,605 3,750
IV 3,745 3,890
V 3,890 4,030
VI 4,135 4,275
3. Cement I 3,310 ,
Concrete M-40
II 3,445 3,635
III 3,550 3,745
IV 3,690 3,880
V 3,800 3,990
VI 4,020 4,210
4. Cement I 2,955 ,
Concrete M-40
II 3,090 3,225
with 30 PER
CENT FLY-ASH III 3,200 3,340
REPLACEMENT IV 3,335 3,475
V 3,445 3,580
VI 3,660 3, 800

7.11. Initial cost of overlay

Table 10 gives the quantities involved per Km length. Table 11 gives the initial cost of
overlay per kilometer length of a two-lane pavement. A profile correction course of 25
mm average thickness will be necessary for, both the flexible and concrete overlay
options. But being a common cost, it has been neglected in cost comparison.
 TABLE 10

QUANTITIES OF WORKS ITEMS

(PER Km X 2 LANES)

A. Flexible overlay
TACK COAT DBM BC CONCRETE M-40
1. Heavy Traffic sqm (cum) (cum) (cum)
2. Normal Traffic 7,000 630 350 1,890
3. Light Traffic 7,000 525 280 1,680
7,000 280 140 1,330
B. Periodic Renewal Once in 5 Years
1. Heavy Traffic 7,000 175
2. Normal Traffic 7,000 175
3. Light Traffic 7,000 140
(PC)
C. Overlay Once in 10 Years
1. Heavy Traffic 7,000 525 350
2. Normal Traffic 7,000 525 280
3. Light Traffic 7,000 280 140

TABLE 11

INITIAL COST OF OVERLAYS

Lakh Rs/Km/2 Lanes

Ordinary Bitumen at Rs 13,000 per Tonne

Modified Bitumen at Rs 15,000 per Tonne and
Cement at Rs 2,800 per Tonne

1. ZONE
FLEXIBLE OVERLAY
I II III IV V
VI
1. Heavy Traffic 29 30 31 33 34 36
2. Normal Traffic 24 25 26 27 28 30
3. Light Traffic 13 14 15 15 16 17
2. CONCRETE (WITHOUT FLYASH REPLACEMENT)
1. Heavy Traffic 65 67 70 72 76
2. Normal Traffic 58 60 62 64 68
3. Light Traffic 4 46 47 49 51 53
3. CONCRETE (WITH 30% FLYASH REPLACEMENT)62
1. Heavy Traffic 57 58 60 63 65 69
2. Normal Traffic;, 50 52 54 56 58 61
3. Light Traffic 39 41 43 44 46 49
Table 11 shows that a flexible overlay costs less than the cost of the concrete overlay. It
costs almost half that of a concrete overlay. But it should be remembered that one is
comparing a thickness of 220-270 mm of concrete overlay with a bituminous overlay of
60-140 mm thickness. Obviously, such a comparison is inequitable. Bituminous
overlays need periodic surface renewals (once in 5 years) and further overlays after
every 10 years.
In order to provide an equitable comparison, a life-cycle cost is a better basis and is
presented later.
7.12. User Costs

User costs are those that are borne by the vehicles that travel on the road. These costs
comprise of vehicle operating costs (VOC), time costs of passengers and commodities in
transit and accident costs. In the present analysis, only VOC is considered, it being
assumed that time costs and accident costs on both the type of surfaces are the same.
VOC consists of wear and tear of vehicles, fuel, lubricants, depreciation and fixed costs,
and is easily quantified. The magnitude of VOC is very large in comparison with the cost of
construction and maintenance.
A well constructed bituminous concrete surface has a smooth riding quality to start with.
The roughness measured with a Bump Integrator would be around 2,000 mm/km
(Ref.1). But the riding quality soon deteriorates with traffic, and may reach values of
4000 mm/km or near about, in a few years. On the other hand, the initial 2000 mm/km
roughness of a cement concrete surface is maintained almost throughout its life with
very little deterioration. This is an important factor in evaluating cost of operation of
vehicles. It can thus be safely stated that due to negligible surface deterioration, the
user costs on cement concrete roads, over the design life, would be much lower than on
bituminous surfaces.
7.13. Whole-life-cycle-costs
Initial construction costs and maintenance costs have been considered for Zone I, with
cement price at Rs. 2,800 per Tonne and bitumen price at Rs. 15,000 per Tonne
(Table 11).
The Analysis period considered is 30 years. Table 12 gives the traffic considered after
the overlay is provided. The discount rate is 12 per cent. Inflation at 5 per cent per
annum has been accounted for quantifying costs and benefits. A traffic growth rate of 8
per cent is considered. Table 14 gives the results.
TABLE 12

TRAFFIC (Veh/day)

Cars 1000
Two-wheelers 1000
LCV (Light Com. Veh.) 500
HCV (Heavy Com. Veh.) 5,000
MCV (Multi-Axled Veh.) 100
Buses 500
 Table 13 summarises the results.
Table 15 gives the fuel savings that trucks enjoy while traveling on a rigid and unyielding
surface as described in Para 2.8 earlier.
TABLE 13
INITIAL AND LIFE CYCLE COST OF DIFFERENT OVERLAYS

Rs-LakhslKm/2-lane
Overlay Type Life Cycle Cost Life Cycle NPV of Fuel
Initial Cost of Savings on
CostConstruction Costs
and Maintenance User CostsConcrete Roads
1. Bituminous Overlay
29.0 74.21 5235 -
2. Concrete Overlay
63.0 69.42 4171 879
3. Concrete Overlay
using 30 per cent
f ly-ash replacement 57.0 63.42 4102 879

The results clearly show abundantly that a concrete overlay is the better alternative.
It can also be seen from Table 15 that the fuel savings in the first year on concrete
overlays amount to about Rs. 23 lakhs per Km of road. Over a period of 30 years, the
NPV of fuel savings itself is Rs. 8.79 crores, a very significant benefit. This is another
factor that weighs in favour of concrete overlays.
 TABLE 13
FUEL SAVINGS ON CONCRETE OVERLAYS

Years Commercial Vehicles Fuel savings ( Rs),

per day Lakhs
0 6,100 23.378
1 6,588 26.511
2 7,115 30.063
3 7,684 34.092
4 8,299 38.660
5 8,963 43.841
6 9,680 49.715
7 10,454 56.377
8 11,291 63.932
9 12,194 72.499
10 13,169 82.213
11 14,223 93.230
12 15,361 105.723
13 16,590 119.890
14 17,917 135.955
15 19,350 154.173
16 20,898 174.832
17 22,570 198.259
18 24,376 224.826
19 26,326 254.953
20 28,432 289.117
21 30,706 327.858
22 33,163 371.791
23 35,816 421.611
24 38,681 478.107
25 41,776 542.174
26 45,118 614.825
27 48,727 697.211
28 52,625 790.638
29 56,835 896.583
30 61,382 1,016,725
Note : Fuel savings have been calculated as under
Annual Fuel Number of commercial vehicles per day x 365
Savings (Rs) = x 14/100 (i.e. 14% savings) x 1/4 (i.e. 4 km
per litre) x Rs 30 ( cost of diesel per litre)

Traffic growth
rate = 8 %
Inflation = 5 %
 CHAPTERS

CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES FOR

CONVENTIONAL WHITE-TOPPING

8.1. Preparing existing flexible pavements to receive a concrete overlay

8.1.1. A minimum thickness of 25 mm of bituminous surfacing is beneficial as it can
prevent the entry of water that escapes through the joints in the concrete slab.
Depending upon the condition of the existing flexible pavement, the road to be
white-topped has to be suitably treated to receive the concrete overlay. The
treatment can be in the form of filling of potholes, cracks etc or camber correction
and/or widening. For the new concrete slab to move freely during expansion and
contraction phases, the lower layer should be smooth and without any serious
undulations. The nature of improvement required may thus vary from project to
project, but some general guidelines are given in the following paragraphs.
8.1.2. Repair of potholes, ruts, wide cracks and ravelled surface
If the existing road surface is good and there are only a few localized potholes
and cracks, these can be repaired suitably with a bituminous mix before the
concrete slabs are super-imposed. But if it is severely distressed with rutting and
potholes, the best remedy would be to provide a levelling course (profile
correction course) so that the resulting surface is even and is as per the required
grade, as shown in Fig. 12. This is essential because placing of large concrete
slabs directly on an undulating surface has other adverse consequences like
formation of random cracks. Even in the presence of joint grooves of the
required depth, concrete cracks can develop at random, as shown in Fig. 13, at
locations where the slab thickness is at a minimum. Hence, if existing
undulations are large, such a situation warrants a substantial profile correction
course so that the thickness of white-toping can be uniform and it can move
freely (without any hinderance), whenever required.
Potholes and cracks wider than 3 mm will have to be treated with bituminous
emulsion, slurry seal or equivalent, after trimming them to shape and cleaning
out loose fragments with compressed air. The surface of the cleaned pothole
should be painted with bituminous tack coat, before placing of the bituminous
repair mixes in layers. Compaction can be obtained in the lower layers of
potholes by either tamping manually or by loaded pneumatic tyre trucks/dumpers
for large potholes. The top surface can, however, be rolled with a vibratory roller.
In certain cases, it may be more advantageous to obtain an even surface by cold
milling and/or planing by machines. Detailed levels should be taken on the
existing pavement and the best manner in which profile correction is to be done,
should be determined. The work is to be done by fixing the cross-sectional
profile first and thereafter adjusting the longitudinal profile to give a smooth riding
surface. Change of vertical gradients at frequent intervals should be avoided. A
minimum length of 100 m of one grade should be aimed at. This minimum length
can be reduced in hilly terrain.
 The work can be very much simplified by performing the calculations on a
computer using a highway design software, which is then used to plot the final
cross-section and longitudinal profile.
When concrete resurfacings are provided on urban streets, it may be necessary to
cut a certain depth of the existing pavement to house the concrete slab (see Para
2.3). the material so excavated, can be recycled for use on other roads.
Before concreting, the existing surface should be thoroughly cleaned and made
free of dirt and loose particles, to ensure uniformity of sub-base for the new slab.
8.2. Correction of camber
Depending upon the camber required for the concrete slab, a bituminous profile
correction course may have to be provided on the surface of the existing road. This
sandwich layer can either be provided on one half of the road or over full width of the
road as shown in Fig. 14. This camber correction course can be combined with the
levelling course given in Para 7.11.
8.3. Drainage

It will be found that in many cases, the old pavement has impervious material in the
shoulders. The result of this could be that water entering the subgrade either directly
though the pavement layers or from the sides, is likely to get entrapped and thereby
soften the subgrade and lower its supporting strength. When doing an overlay, it would
therefore be advantageous to provide subgrade drainage by appropriately designed
subgrade drains, comprising of open jointed pipes or cuts in the shoulders, filled with
granular materials. These drainage devices should have proper slopes, leading the
water away from the pavement.
8.4. Widening of the existing road
The roads of yesterday, constructed for low traffic volumes, are normally required to be
widened to cater for the present day traffic. In the absence of hard shoulders, the edges of
these narrow pavements have often become irregular. These edges must be trimmed and
extended, before concrete overlays can be done on them. The trimming and
widening should be carried out carefully as per specified practices which will help in
providing interlocking effect between the new and old constructions.
The extension of the edges can be carried out with the help of various construction
materials, but it must be borne in mind that the mix used should be amenable to
compaction in a narrow space with light rollers. The mixes which can be considered
suitable for such works, are as under:-
i) Wet Mix Macadam
ii) Bituminous mixes
iii) Dry lean concrete mix (DLC)
These mixes can be compacted with small vibratory rollers. Before widening of the
existing road, it is necessary to consider the drainage requirements. Box-constructions
are prone to cause trapping of seepage water. Best alternative would be to construct
the shoulder along with the widened section after providing suitable drainage layer for
the full width (Fig. 15).
Wet mix macadam (WMM) with optimum moisture content (OMC), placed in layers and
compacted with a vibratory roller, can generally result in a satisfactory construction for
this purpose.
However, bitumen bound or cement bound materials are much superior to WMM mix,
especially when the work is to be executed in narrow strips and when heavy compaction
cannot be imparted. Bituminous mixes are relatively expensive compared to WMM, but
would perform better with the old pavement on account of matching properties.
Use of dry lean concrete mix for widening has been tried in France and other European
countries. If facilities are available to manufacture and pave the mix mechanically, it
would give excellent results. This mix can be placed in a single layer upto a depth of
20 cm.
Use of an anti-friction layer between the existing road and the concrete overlay would be
necessary. Polythene sheets of 125 micron thickness would be satisfactory for the job.
8.5. Traffic diversions
Concrete requires time for curing and hardening. This period may extend for a number of
days, though it can be minimized by using suitable ingredients. It is necessary to
scrupulously keep traffic away from the newly laid slab during this period. Thus, it may be
required that traffic diversions are planned, constructed and maintained.
If the existing road is wide enough, traffic can be managed by working on one lane at a
time. The free lane can be used for traffic. If traffic is heavy, the existing road's
shoulders can be paved and surfaced for use. The thickness of the paved shoulder and
its surfacing specifications should be sufficient to manage the traffic for the required
period.
8.6. Temperature of the existing surface
Placing concrete on an existing bituminous surface which is having elevated
temperatures (above 38°C) should be avoided. The rapid cooling of the existing
pavement surface, in case concreting done at high temperature, may result in shrinkage
stresses in the resurfacing, which can cause cracking before joints can be formed. In
addition, a hot existing surface will result in high thermal gradients and curing or
warping, in the resurfacing slab during the initial curing period (Ref. 21). Hence, if the
bituminous surface is hot, it must be effectively cooled by keeping the surface wet with
water for several hours, prior to the placing of concrete (Ref. 22).
8.7. Concreting and finishing
As already mentioned, the construction of a cement concrete overlay is similar to the
construction of a new cement concrete pavement. It is necessary that modern
construction practices be adopted so that the quality of workmanship is obtained.
Concrete mixing must be carried out in a concrete batching plants having accurate
mechanism for weighing the ingredients. Laying of the pavement should be done by
pavers having arrangement for controlling the profile of the layer. Either fixed form
pavers moving on rails or slip-form pavers may be used. The latter are beginning tc
replace the former because of the flexibility offered by them in laying operations (Ref. 21 &
46). The concrete slab should be finished in the conventional manner employinc_
burlap, steel fibres, bristles, brooms or steel tynes so that the desired texture is obtained
Joints must be sawn by joint cutting machines. Sealing of joints should be done onl
with approved materials. Curing must be done either by manual methods such as
ponding, and covering with wet hessian or by polyethylene sheets, or though the use of
membrane curing compounds. Freshly laid concrete should be protected from the direct
rays of sun, under hot temperature conditions, by the use of tents.
Guidelines on concreting have been formulated by the Indian Roads Congress and the
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and these must be scrupulously followed (Ref.
47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 and 53). The Handbook on Cement Concrete Roads by the
Cement Manufacturers' Association also gives good guidance (Ref. 54).
Modern concrete paving equipment is now being progressively manufactured in India
and can be procured for usage.
8.8. Load transfer devices
Effective load transfer at joints is essential for satisfactory performance of conventional
white-topping (Ref. 32). Use of dowels is common. Dowels can be inserted by Dowel
Bar Inserters which form part of the paving train, or, they can be prefabricated and
placed on chairs. The alignment of dowels should be checked so that free movement is
permitted since any mis-alignment can cause cracks.
8.9. Quality control
The success of a cement concrete overlay construction depends upon the observance of
strict quality control measures. Tests must be conducted at periodic intervals on the
materials (cement, aggregates, water etc.), the gradation of the mix, the cement content,
mix workability, strength of poured concrete, thickness of layers as laid, density achieved
and the surface finish. Statistical methods must be employed to ensure that the results
are acceptable within a prescribed degree of confidence. The IRC Manual on Quality
Control gives guidance as to the tests to be conducted and their frequency/periodicity
(Ref. 53).
8.10. Opening to traffic
The finished pavement can be opened to traffic only after the concrete has attained the
desired strength. Since this may take some days, and closure or diversion of traffic
cannot be acceptable for that long a period on busy roads, research is being carried out to
reduce the concrete hardening period to the minimum. The expectations are that as
cement technology gets updated, no longer will lanes to be overlaid with concrete have to
be closed for several days. Cement, capable of giving a compressive strength of 175
kg/cm2 to concrete mixes in less than 4 hours has been introduced on foreign concreting
jobs. This will make possible to re-open concrete pavements to traffic within 8 hours of
closure.

The trend in USA is to use High Performance Concrete (HPC) for concrete overlays
(Ref. 41) so that the road can be opened to traffic in 24 hours or less. High range water
reducers (HRWR) and air entrainment are used.as additives to make concrete with a low
water-cement ratio workable enough for placement. Shrinkage Reducing Admixtures
(SRA) are also used for safeguarding against cracking (Ref. 41). For obtaining HPC, it
is common to use supplementary cementitious materials such as fly-ash, slag or silica
fume (Ref. 41).
It may take some time for India to come up in cement technology to the above levels.
However, since our country already manufactures High Strength (15:8112) Cements,
these could be advantageously used in concrete overlay jobs where traffic closure times
have to be minimized. High Performance Concrete (HPC) has been used successfully in
some bridge structures and high-rise buildings in India during the last few years and its
technology is well understood by our engineers.
8.11.. White-topping carried out in Indore City
Indore city decided to adopt concrete overlay on. some of its roads funded by special
purpose bonds floated by the Madhya Pradesh Government. About 8-10 Kms of
concrete overlay work has been completed. It is expected that out of Rs. 50 crores
collected through the bonds, concrete overlays costing Rs. 40 crores would be
completed (Ref. 55).
The concrete overlay was carried out using concrete of grade M-35, having a flexural
strength of 4.5 MPa at 28 days. The thickness of the overlay was in the range of 250 270
mm.
The profile of the existing bituminous road was corrected by a profile correction course of
50 mm Bituminous Macadam. Wherever the pavement needed to be widened, the
subgrade was improved, a layer of Granular Sub-base of 100 mm was provided' and a
Dry Lean Concrete course was provided to bring the widened portion to the same level as
the existing road.
The concrete overlay was compacted by screed and needle vibrators. The work was
done during night to avoid high volume of day traffic.
The existing water and sewer lines were not shifted, but manholes for inspection were
provided before laying the concrete overlay. For future requirements, new utility lines
wilt be laid under the footpaths, which have been paved with interlocking concrete
paving blocks.
 CHAPTER9

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The following conclusions can be drawn and recommendations made:

1. Pavements on Indian highways have many inherent weaknesses.
Inadequate thickness, poor compaction of subgrade soil, ineffective drainage
and low-cost specifications are some of them. Excessive overloading of
goods carriers adds to the problem.
2. Pavement strengthening and rehabilitation is a problem of immediate concern
and this activity will figure dominantly in the development plans for the
coming years.
3. When colossal investments are going to be made on them, great care is
needed in selecting the overlay types and their specifications.
4. "White-topping", which means concrete overlays over existing black-topped
pavements, is an attractive option.
5. Interest in concrete overlays is likely to grow because of abundant supply of
cement in the country, and the shortages of bitumen likely to be experienced
in the coming years.
6. Advantages of concrete overlays include: long life, practically maintenance-
free performance, fuel saving, good riding quality, hard surface, no effect of
spillage of oil, design precision, absence of penetration of water, good
reflectivity characteristics, easy availability of binder and favourable cost
economics.
7. International experience in white-topping is encouraging. Countries like
France, Belgium, USA and UK have taken up white-topping work. The
results have been favourable.
8. Both plain concrete overlays with joints and continuously reinforced concrete
overlays can be laid. The choice depends on relative costs.
9. Design of concrete overlays should be done after ascertaining the Modulus of
Subgrade Reaction, k of the existing pavement. Axle load spectrum studies
should be analysed to select the design wheel load.
10. Thickness in the range of 19-27 cm is needed for plain concrete jointed slabs,
for various values of wheel loads. The thickness of CRCP overlay will be 15-
20 per cent less.
11. Concrete overlays should be laid by modern concrete pavers. Good control
of quality is an important requirement.
12. Bituminous overlays are generally cheaper in initial cost than concrete
overlays. But considering life-cycle-costs, concrete overlays emerge as a
better alternative. The Net Present Value of cement concrete overlay
(construction and maintenance costs) is about 5-15 per cent lower than that
of a flexible overlay. Besides, substantial savings in Vehicle Operating Costs
and fuel are possible. The fuel savings in one year after opening to traffic
can be as high as Rs. 23 lakhs per Km. It is, therefore, suggested that
Government should issue instruction for adoption of concrete overlays in
future projects.
13. Since white-topping is a recently-introduced technology for India, it would be
desirable that suitable R&D be taken up on White-topping so as to arrive at
an appropriate design guideline suited to Indian conditions. Performance of
trial sections should be monitored by instrumentation, non-destructive testing,
taking out of cores etc.
14. Ultra Thin White-topping, using fibre-reinforced concrete of 50-125 mm
thickness, is a new technology, which has proved to be highly economical
and beneficial. India can benefit from the experience abroad and adopt this
technology in Indian cities. A few trials can be taken up to familiarize our
engineers and contractors with the technology.