Durable and Sustainable Concrete Pavements on Public Private Partnership Projects

Due to its central location in europe Germany is a typical transit country, where traffic load by heavy traffic increases anually. Highways are especially affected, with freight traffic not only increasing in number but also showing a trend of 5-axle vehicles with larger utilization of the allowed axle loads at the same time. In Germany a service life period of at least 30 years is assumed when designing new road constructions and complete renovations. Under normal circumstances the road will outlast this time in economically acceptable conditions before it must be replaced again. Despite the enormously increasing load specifications have remained the same in large parts so that the question arises whether they can meet the already increased requirements. An alternative solution for this issue can be public private partnership (PPP) models, in which the contractor not only will build the road, but also operates and maintains it over a 30 year period. The contracting entity in this way encourages new and even innovative solutions. The contractor has to find new and different approaches in order to submit a financial offer. Strategies are needed that ensure higher quality construction performance within the period of use that will result in low maintenance costs and make the use of concrete in paving projects economically sound. Availability of the road plays a crucial part in paving maintenance, and these strategies must also allow for minimal closures. To ensure the necessary useful service life and to minimize risks the vast majority of all PPP-models in the last few years were executed with concrete pavements. In the example of the highway A5, Malsch-Offenburg, the presentation shows the special efforts in preparation and construction of the road. New approaches such as the analytic design, special initial testing of concrete, and specific criteria for installation by a quality assurance system are shown, laying the foundations for economic success.