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Concrete Road Pavements and
Potential Impact Using RCA
 Recycled Aggregates
Use in Road Pavements

 Unbound Applications
 Hydraulically Bound Applications
 Bituminous Bound Applications
 RA Use in Road Pavements
Flexible pavement
Wearing Course Rigid pavement
Basecourse
Roadbase (unbound / Concrete Slab
bituminous bound)
Subbase Subbase
Capping Layer Capping Layer
Subgrade Subgrade

Flexible composite pavement Rigid composite pavement

WearingApplying
Course Concrete Knowledge
Wearing Course
Basecourse Basecourse
Upper Roadbase (bound) Continuous Reinforced
Lower Roadbase (bound) Concrete Slab
Subbase Subbase
Capping layer Capping Layer
Subgrade Subgrade
30th August 2019 | IES Academy, Jurong East R K Dhir
 Unbound Applications:
California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
• CBR can be used to evaluate the bearing
capacity of sub-bases and subgrades.
• The test can be conducted on samples in:
(i) Un-soaked condition.
(ii) Soaked condition.
 Unbound Applications:
• For use in subgrade, CBR > 0%
•
California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
For use in subbase, CBR > 15%
Unfavourable condition
UNSOAKED CBR SOAKED CBR MDD, kg/m3 OMC, %
Material
Sample Range Mean Sample Range Mean Range Range

NA - - - - - - - -
Standard Proctor

RCA 4 74-81 78 27 19-88 58 1748-1958 9.4-15.8

RMA - - - - - - - -
MRA 15 50-77 64 11 46-66 55 1768-1856 13.2-14
RAP - - - 1 - 19 1875 5.5
Applying Concrete Knowledge
NA 4 82-133 112 11 36-170 128 1840-2380 5.2-7.1
Modified Proctor

RCA 9 42-125 94 45 53-215 105 1840-2150 8.6-14.2

RMA - - - 12 45-157 76 1670-2050 10.7-15.4
MRA 5 29-139 82 29 26-150 72 1830-2120 8.7-21.5
RAP 1 - 19 5 22-39 32 1900-2038 2.1-8.1
30th August 2019 | IES Academy, Jurong East R K Dhir
Unbound Applications:
Resistance to Permanent Deformation

Excessive permanent deformation (accumulation

of irrecoverable deformation due to cyclic
loadings) in unbound layer can lead to rutting
PERMANENT
failure of pavement.
MATERIAL DEFORMATION
(%)
Natural aggregate 0.65

RCA from low strength concrete 2.30

RCA from medium strength
concrete
0.35 Not likely
RCA from high strength concrete 1.15
 Unbound Applications:
International Roughness Index (IRI)

1. IRI is used worldwide to quantify the roughness of a

road surface.

2. Roughness of road surface relates to:

Ride quality.
Operational cost.
Maintenance cost.
 Unbound Applications:
International
Deep Roughness Index
depressions

IRI of RCA
base course
Surface
imperfections

Perfect
 Unbound Applications: Deflection

1.Surface deflection is a measure to determine the

structural adequacy of an in-service road.

2. Non-destructive methods such as falling weight

delfectometer (FWD) are commonly used to measure
the vertical deflection response of road.

3. Deflection of RCA sub-base and RCA base is reported

as similar or slightly higher than that of the NA.

ion
4. Self-cementing properties of unhydrated cement particles
of RCA may (i) lower the deflection values and increase
the resilient modulus of pavement layer.
 Hydraulically Bound Applications

Two types of hydraulically bound layers in a pavement are:

1. Hydraulically bound mixtures (HBMs) for use in sub-
base or base layers, with around 4%–6% binder content
(Portland cement, fly ash)
2. Reinforced concrete slabs for use in rigid pavements,
with about 10%–15% binder content.
Hydraulically Bound Mixtures:
Unconfined Compressive Strength
8
General trend
7
Unconfined compressive strength, MPa

For heavy traffic

3
For light to medium traffic

0
0 20 40 60 80 100

RCA CONTENT, %
 Hydraulically Bound Mixtures:
Resilient Modulus

Resilient Modulus (MR) is the stress-strain

80

response under repeated loadingNot

60
really true due
to the presence of
(simulating traffic loading). adhered paste
RELATIVE CHANGE OF MR, %

40

20

-20

-40

-60

-80
0 20 40 60 80 100
RCA CONTENT, %
 Hydraulically Bound Mixtures:
Moisture Susceptibility
The ingress of water into a pavement can cause the
deterioration of the pavement, as it can lead to the
degradation of its engineering properties.
20

RESISTANCE TO MOISTURE SUSCEPTIBILITY

NA RCA
Poor

15
DIELECTRIC VALUE

Marginal

10 Applying Concrete Knowledge

5 Good

0
1.5 3 4.5
CEMENT CONTENT, %
30th August 2019 | IES Academy, Jurong East R K Dhir
 Concrete Pavements: Consistence
Consistence (workability) determines the ease of
handling of concrete in the fresh state before it sets.
40
RELATIVE OF SLUMP w.r.t NA CONCRETE, %

20

-20
Applying Concrete Knowledge
-40

-60

-80
0 20 40 60 80 100
30th August 2019 | IES Academy, Jurong East RCA CONTENT, % R K Dhir
Concrete Pavements: Compressive Strength
7 days 28 days
20
RELATIVE OF STRENGTH w.r.t NA COCNRETE, %

10

-10

-20
Applying Concrete Knowledge
-30

-40
0 20 40 60 80 1000 20 40 60 80 100
RCA CONTENT, % RCA CONTENT, %

30th August 2019 | IES Academy, Jurong East R K Dhir

 Concrete Pavements: Flexural Strength
RCA CONTENT, %
0 20 40 60 80 100
0
RELATIVE OF STRENGTH w.r.t NA CONCRETE, %

-20

-40
Applying Concrete Knowledge

-60

-80

30th August 2019 | IES Academy, Jurong East R K Dhir

Concrete Pavements: Thermal Expansion

• Thermal expansion relates to the dimensional

stability of concrete, that can affect the movement
of slabs and therefore the joint design.
• Limited studies suggest that for the coefficient of
thermal expansion (CTE) of concrete with up to
50% RCA is only slightly higher than that of NA
concrete, but still well within its typical range of:
7.5 – 13 x 10-6/°C.
 Concrete Pavements: Thermal Expansion

• Thermal expansion relates to the dimensional stability

of concrete, that can affect the movement of slabs and
therefore the joint design.
• Limited studies suggest that for the coefficient of
thermal expansion (CTE) of concrete with up to 50%
RCA is onlyApplying
slightly higher
Concretethan that of NA concrete, but
Knowledge
still well within its typical range of:
7.5 – 13 x 10-6/°C.

30th August 2019 | IES Academy, Jurong East R K Dhir

 5. Summary

• In unbound applications, although the CBR of RA is

lower than that of NA, the material still meets the
requirements for use in both (i) subgrade and (ii)
sub-base applications.
• The engineering properties such as permanent
deformation, roughness and deflection were found
not adversely affected when RA is used.
• In hydraulically bound applications, RCA can be
used up to 100%replacement of NA and still achieve
sufficiently high strength that can withstand heavy
traffic load.
 5. Summary (Cont.)

• Owing to the adhered cement paste, the resilient

modulus of HBMs containing RCA is likely to be
lower than that of NA.
• The moisture susceptibility of HBMs made with
RCA is comparable to that of NA.
• In concrete pavement applications, the negative
effects of the adhered cement paste of RCA, by
being weak and absorptive, become more
dominant on some of the properties of concrete
studied, such as consistence, compressive
strength and flexural strength.
 5. Summary (Cont.)
• In bituminous bound applications, the inclusion of
RCA in coarse, fine and mixed size fractions can be
designed using the Marshall method.
• For a given traffic condition, bituminous mixtures
made with up to 30%–50% RCA were comparable
to reference NA bituminous mixtures.
• The use of RCA tended to decrease the stiffness
modulus, rutting resistance and fatigue resistance
of bituminous mixtures, although satisfactory
performance was observed for RCA content up to
about 30%.