Roller-Compacted Concrete
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Paving Equipment
and RCC: The Next Generation?
 "Roller-Compacted
Concrete, or RCC, takes its name from the construction method used
to build it. It’s placed with asphalt paving equipment, then
compacted with rollers.” This statement in a PCA promotional
publication on RCC could soon face a serious challenge as the advent
of new paving equipment makes it possible to place RCC pavements
without the need for any additional compactive effort. Newly developed
high-power compaction screeds for the drier, stiff concrete mixes
typically used in RCC have been used with some success in Europe.
Eliminating the need for consolidation using rollers makes this
Paver-Compacted Concrete (PCC) extremely attractive.
 According
to Siegfried Riffel, who is responsible for project management for
traffic route construction with Heidelberg Cement in Germany, these
new pavers place, then compact the dry concrete mix from the surface
with tamping, vibrating, and pressing compacting systems –
achieving the minimum specified density. Densities equal to or greater
than the required 98% of a modified Proctor test have been obtained
directly out of the back of these pavers resulting in a working
width, paving depth, transverse road profile, surface accuracy,
and surface texture of the highest possible quality achievable for
roadway pavements.
Certain road pavers manufactured by JOSEPH VÖGELE AG based
in Mannheim, Germany have been designed to handle and place lean-mixed
concrete materials such as conventional RCC mixes. These models
include VÖGELE’s SUPER 1600-1, SUPER 1800, and SUPER
2500 which can all be fitted with fixed-width screeds resulting
in maximum paving widths from 8 to 16 meters (26 to 52 feet). These
screeds are available in different versions depending on their compaction
systems. One system, the TVP2, is equipped with a tamper, vibrators,
and two pressure bars and is capable of successfully placing RCC
mixes at their minimum specified densities without the need for
additional compacting using conventional vibratory or static drum
rollers.
 Mr.
Riffel notes that when compared to conventional concrete, PCC placed
with these new high-density pavers offers many technical and economic
advantages. It is, for example, possible to achieve high quality
in terms of strength, durability, and surface finish at relatively
low device and personnel costs. The fully mechanical compacting
process makes it possible to walk on the surface or lay the second
layer with the road paver directly after the high-power compaction
screed. Depending on the desired thickness and width of the installation,
the concrete can be laid very quickly – from 60 up to 120
meters (approximately 200 to 400 feet) per hour.
PCC placed with these next generation pavers has a multitude of
potential applications in both private and public roadway construction.
It can be placed in single or multiple lifts, most typically in
150 or 200 mm (6 or 8-inch) thickness, and is particularly suitable
as either a load-carrying base course or a riding surface. These
pavers can place the stiff concrete mix simply, efficiently, and
economically and are also suitable for industrial and military streets,
airports, bus lanes, road-side rest stops, agricultural and forest
tracks, cycle paths, footpaths, intersections, yards, parks, parking
lots, industrial flooring, and exhibition areas.
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More about RCC:
Features & Benefits of RCC Pavements
Related RCC Links
Research in Progress
RCC FAQs
Paver-Compacted Concrete
RCC for Ports
Recent Projects
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