First Application of a Concrete Inlay on a Bitumen Paved Motorway in Belgium

The motorway A7, also called the "Motorway of Wallonia", was opened to traffic in December 1970. In the vicinity of Mons this motorway carries a very high volume of heavy traffic, which is still increasing. The right-hand (slow) lane is subject to severe rutting, which has affected the deeper layers. Several solutions were considered for maintenance. The final choice has fallen on an inlay of dowelled concrete slabs 5 m long, 4.5 m wide and 20 cm thick. This paper describes the design study rarned out and the actual execution of the experiment. It also reviews the results.