Report 291 Alternative textures for concrete roads: results of M18 and A50 trials

Publication Year

1997

Document Status

Current

Abstract

In recent years, concrete road surfaces have gained a reputation for being noisier than bituminous road surfaces. This Report gives the results of performance trials of a type of concrete road surface material which is produced with a randomised surface texture pattern similar to that occurring on conventional bituminous surfaces such as Hot Rolled Asphalt (HRA). The surfacing is known as Exposed Aggregate Concrete (EAC). Previous studies in Belgium and Austria, where there had been experience of the EAC surface over a number of years, had indicated that lower noise levels were achievable when compared with other types of concrete surfacing. The first to two trials of EAC to be built in the UK took place between August and December 1993 during the reconstruction of the M18 motorway between Junctions 5 and 6 near Thorne in South Yorkshire. In addition to the exposed aggregate surfacing, the M18 trial also included a concrete surfacing constructed using an American practice of using a burlap drag followed by transverse tining to texture the surface. Conventional brushed concrete and HRA surfacings were also laid as part of this trial. The second trial took place on the A50 Hatton-Foston-Hilton Bypass in Derbyshire. This trial consisted of an EAC surface and HRA only. The A50 surfaces were opened to traffic in May, 1995. The main objective of the research described in this Report was to compare the suitability of the materials and acoustic performance of the different concrete and bituminous surfaces laid on the M18 and A50. This was to help identify a type of surface texture for concrete roads that provides adequate levels of skid resistance, both at high and low speeds, without causing the higher noise levels that had been observed alongside some brushed concrete surfacings. The duration of the study encompassed the first 32 months of exposure to traffic on the M18 and the first 16 months of exposure to traffic on the A50.

Author

Hewitt, A. P., Abbott, P. G. and Nelson, P.M.

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