Concrete Pavements in Seasonal Frost Conditions – Finnish Experience of the Durability and Economy of a Concrete Pavement Built in 1990 in Northern Finland

Oulu is a city of about 145,000 inhabitants including its suburban area located in northern Finland where the winter can be very cold. The freezing index is about 40,000 °C h (once in 10 years) and the frost penetration depth can be about 2 m or rluuue. lii 1990, 4 km of concroto pavoment were constructAd in Oiilii on the first roadway of the future motorway. The main goal of the planning of this concrete pavement, which is one of the most northern ones in the world, was to design the concrete pavement with base and sub-base courses to carry the artic frost heave, the heavy traffic and the wearing influence of studded winter tyres and do-icing salts. In 1990 the average daily traffic was 12,500 vehicles per day; 18,700 are expected for the year 2020. After 3 years under traffic monitoring has shown that the Finnish design practise against frost heave seems to be sufficient and the quality of the concrete slabs durable enough to wear the heavy traffic and studded winter tyres as well as the influence of frost and do-icing salts.