Test Sections of Rigid and Flexible Pavements

The number of heavy vehicles in the Swedish road network is continuing to grow, and more rigid types of pavements are being used to withstand the loads. During the 1980s only asphalt pavements were used in Sweden and damage occurred on many roads with large traffic volumes. The Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA) therefore decided to test concrete pavement on a number of selected roads. When the E6 south of Falkenberg was to be converted to motorway, the SNRA decided to build it as a test road with both concrete pavement and asphalt pavement. The intention was to compare the two different types of pavement with each other in a long-term perspective. The road section, which is 21 km long, was built with 14 km of concrete pavement and 7 km of asphalt pavement. The concrete pavement was mainly constructed as a Plain Jointed Concrete Pavement (PJCP). A short section was constructed as a Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP). The asphalt pavement was mainly constructed with ordinary layers of asphalt according to the Construction Specifications of SNRA. A short section was built with layers of modified asphalt according to the Swedish Asphalt Pavement Association (FAS). Results have been followed up with regard to evenness, rutting, friction, noise and structural condition. After four years of use, the concrete pavement is still very even in the longitudinal direction. Rutting is very little and friction is good. The Plain Jointed Concrete Pavement is in good condition without damage or cracking. Crack formation on the Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement has not followed the sequence that was expected. The cracking is irregular and the distance between cracks is in many cases far too short. Crack spacing is often less than 0.5 m. The asphalt pavement is also very even in the longitudinal direction but rutting is two to three times as great as on the concrete pavement. The explanation is that the concrete pavement is very resistant to wear from studded tyres and have no rut deformation from heavy traffic in hot weather.