Feasibility of Continuously Reinforced Concrete Construction in Turkey

Continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRCPs), when proper design and construction guidelines are followed, may allow more than thirty million equivalent single axle load application as observed at existing CRCP sections in the United States of America. Otherwise, the CRCP may prematurely fail and require costly maintenance earlier than anticipated. In this paper, the feasibility of constructing motorways with CRCP in Turkey will be discussed. Motorway construction in Turkey will continue to expand the existing but limited network. Because of the geography of Turkey, climate and locally available materials are expected to show significant difference among the regions. Thus, providing a single design guideline with no provision for the effect of these variations may create poor-performing CRCPs. CRCP performance will be simulated as a function of climate and material properties. The analysis will look at the daily and monthly temperature changes, subbase friction properties, portland cement concrete properties and their impact on the service life of CRCP. Finally a guideline will be provided for desired time and season of construction, and material properties, for various regions of Turkey.