Surface Properties of Road Construction Concrete Produced with Portland-Composite Cements

High concrete pavement performance requires excellent concrete quality. One imp ortant factor guaranteeing this high quality is the proper selection of qualified cement. The use of blended cements is increasing more and more. Especially the market share of Portland composite cements (cement type CEM II according to EN 197-1) shows a growing progress. This paper presents results of different studies determining the properties of concretes produced with CEM II. The concretes were investigated by testing parameters relevant for concrete pavement performance. The results were compared with concretes produced with ordinary Portland cement CEM I. No significant differences in concrete properties like strength and durability were determined. Specific interest was focussed on the surface texture of the pavement concretes responsible for properties like grip and noise emis - sions. Using a new developed test method it was obvious, that concretes containing CEM II cements showed the same performance like CEM I. The application of CEM II cements in highway pavements showed the same high quality, as it is well known from the use of Portland cement CEM I.