Concrete Pavements in Motorway Service Areas

Even if the forecasts for the development of goods traffic are more cautious than they were just a few years ago, growth remains strong in Europe. Most goods will continue to be transported by road in the future. Not everywhere, however, has the expansion of motorway rest and service areas been able to keep up with the enormous growth in goods traffic. In Germany, bottlenecks in the number of available parking spaces for heavy vehicles in the evening and night-time hours are the result. The reduction of this deficit through the needs-driven expansion of motorway rest and service areas thus remains an important project within the field of transportation infrastructures. Heavy vehicle parking spaces at rest and service areas are subject to high structural loads. Due to tight radii and heavy vehicles moving at slow speeds or standing stationary, the entry slip roads, through lanes, drive aisles, and exit slip roads are also subject to strong loading forces. Constructed in concrete, these pavements are durable and show a great resistance to deformation even at higher temperatures. As it is not always possible to avoid irregular slab geometries in concrete road pavements at rest and service areas, working out a joint layout plan that is optimised to the local conditions is of fundamental importance. Considerable potential for increasing durability can also be found in the construction of parking area islands and kerbside gutters.