ACI 325.14R-17

Concrete mixtures intended for pavements have purposes and desired characteristics that are different from other types of mixtures, such as structural or mass concrete. Thus, a guide for designing concrete mixtures specific to paving, such as highways, streets, airfields, and parking lots, is necessary. This guide describes a method for designing mixtures and selecting trial mixture proportions for hydraulic-cement concrete made with and without supplementary cementitious materials, chemical admixtures, and fibers. The guide provides a method that focuses on designing the concrete mixture in the context of pavement structural design, concrete production, construction operations, and the environment in which the pavement will reside. Trial mixture proportions are for concrete consisting of normalweight aggregates and concrete with workability suitable for various types of pavement construction, such as slipform, fixed-form, and laser-guided screeding. The method provides an initial approximation of proportions intended to be analyzed to assess their performance potential for mixing, transporting, placing, screeding and consolidating, finishing, texturing, and time-of-setting. The method also considers the hardened concrete performance parameters of strength, durability, abrasion resistance, skid resistance, smoothness, and dimensional and shape stability. Methods of checking for incompatibilities of materials in given construction environments are included, as well as methods for aggregate grading optimization. Resulting proportions should be checked by preparing and analyzing trial mixtures in the laboratory, then in the field, and adjusting as necessary to produce the desired concrete characteristics. Special concrete pavement mixtures, such as pervious concrete or roller-compacted concrete, are not included in the document. This is a dual-unit document; however, paired values stated in inch-pound and SI units are usually not exact equivalents. Therefore, either system should be used independently of the other.