Concrete Pavements on Industrial and Port Areas the Belgian Experience

The relative improvement of the economic situation, the growing transport by trucks and the increasing use of containers have created an important need for durable pavements, with very low maintenance cost. Due to the rich Belgian experience with concrete roads, many companies prefer to use concrete for surfacing industrial and port areas (as well cast in situ concrete as concrete blocks). Since 1980, in port areas only (Antwerp - Zeebrugge - Ghent) more than 2 million m2 concrete pavements have been laid. The present paper reviews briefly the different types of concrete pavements for heavy-duty applications and gives fmally some design recommendations.