FULL-SCALE PAVEMENT DESIGN EXPERIMENT ON A.1 AT ALCONBURY HILL, HUNTINGDONSHIRE

A DESCRIPTION IS GIVEN OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE OVER THE FIRST SIX YEARS OF EXPERIMENTAL FLEXIBLE AND CONCRETE PAVEMENTS LAID IN 1957 ON THE LONDON-EDINBURGH TRUNK ROAD A.1 IN HUNTINGDONSHIRE. THE TOTAL LENGTH OF 2 1/4 MILES COMPRISES 1 1/4 MILES OF FLEXIBLE CONSTRUCTION AND ONE MILE OF CONCRETE. TOTAL DAILY COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC IS 4000 VEHICLES, IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. IN THE FLEXIBLE CONSTRUCTION THE BEHAVIOUR OF FIVE BASE MATERIALS /WET-MIX SLAG, LEAN CONCRETE, SOIL CEMENT, OPEN-TEXTURED TARMACADAM, AND ROLLED ASPHALT/ IS BEING COMPARED UNDER ROLLED-ASPHALT AND OPEN- TEXTURED BITUMEN-MACADAM SURFACINGS. ALL THE FLEXIBLE SECTIONS HAVE A SUB-BASE OF SINGLE-SIZE FINE SAND. FOR THE CONCRETE PAVEMENTS THE VARIABLES UNDER INVESTIGATION ARE THE THICKNESS OF SLAB, THE THICKNESS AND TYPE OF BASE, THE AMOUNT OF REINFORCEMENT, AND THE STRENGTH OF THE CONCRETE. THE WHOLE EXPERIMENT IS DIVIDED INTO 70 SECTIONS OF LENGTH 120-200 FT, IN WHICH THE VARIOUS FORMS OF CONSTRUCTION ARE BEING STUDIED. OF THE 33 FLEXIBLE SECTIONS, 13 HAVE FAILED IN THE SLOW LANE DURING THE FIRST SIX YEARS AND HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH NON-EXPERIMENTAL CONSTRUCTION. THESE INCLUDE SIX OF THE SEVEN SECTIONS WITH SOIL-CEMENT BASES, FOUR OF THE SEVEN SECTIONS WITH WET-MIX SLAG BASES, AND TWO OF THE SEVEN SECTIONS WITH LEAN-CONCRETE BASES. NO REPLACEMENTS HAVE YET BEEN MADE ON SECTIONS WITH TARMACADAM OR ASPHALT BASES. IN THE CONCRETE EXPERIMENT THE THREE 5 IN THICK REINFORCED SLABS HAVE BEEN PARTLY REPLACED IN THE SLOW LANE. THE REMAINING SLABS ARE AT PRESENT IN A SATISFACTORY CONDITION AND THE REINFORCED SLABS OF 8-IN THICKNESS AND MORE ARE LIKELY TO GIVE SATISFACTORY LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE. /ANOTHER DESCRIPTION OF THESE EXPERIMENTAL PAVEMENTS IS GIVEN. REFERENCES' SURVEYOR, LOND., 1965, 125 /3796/, 28-30. /RRL/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol30, No2, PP225-270, 17FIG, 11TAB, 8REF
• Authors:
  • Croney, D
  • LOE, J A
• Conference:
  • Inst Civil Engineers Proc London /UK/
• Publication Date: 1965-2

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Base course (Pavements); Commercial vehicles; Concrete; Concrete pavements; Experimental roads; Flexibility; Flexible pavements; Lean concrete; Macadam; Material reinforcement; Pavement design; Research reports; Rigid pavements; Rolled asphalt; Sand; Slabs; Soil cement; Stiffness; Strength of materials; Subbase (Pavements); Tar; Test sections; Thickness; Traffic
• Identifier Terms: London-Edinburgh Trunk Road
• Uncontrolled Terms: Flexible; Rigid; Subbase
• Old TRIS Terms: Lean mix concrete
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00205420
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Road Research Laboratory /UK
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 3 1994 12:00AM