Full-Scale Testing of Flowable Cementitious Materials for Rapid Pavement Repair

Abstract

Flowable technologies that make use of hydraulic cements are relied upon in many ways for infrastructure, operations, and contingency activities. The primary objective of this paper is to report full-scale performance findings from testing of rapid-setting flowable fill (RSFF) as an expedient pavement repair technology in hot and cold climates. The scenarios explored were hot climates where RSFF was used as the surface of the repair and directly trafficked by an aircraft simulator load cart and cold climates where RSFF was used as an expedient backfill underneath a rapid-setting concrete (RSC) cap. Twelve expedient pavement repairs were investigated in this study. The data collected showed that RSFF is capable of being used as an expedient repair surface in hot weather and as a high-quality backfill in cold weather. All repairs withstood 112 passes of an aircraft load cart after approximately 2 hours of cure time, thus demonstrating the viability of RSFF as a temporary surface in hot weather conditions and as a backfill material with an RSC cap in cold weather conditions. Aluminum sulfate was tested as an accelerating admixture for cold weather conditions, but it did not perform well. The most efficient manner of using RSFF in cold weather was to heat the mix water.