Performance evaluation of pervious concrete pavements with recycled concrete aggregate

Abstract

The construction and demolition waste (CDW) production and soil sealing are some of the main problems associated with urbanization. The use of pervious concrete pavements with recycled aggregates appears as an innovative and sustainable solution in both environmental and economic aspects. This work evaluates the behavior of pervious concrete produced with CDW aggregates. In order to better control the composition and to achieve better mechanical behavior, CDW composed only by recycled concrete was employed. The performance of the pervious concrete produced with different replacement levels of natural aggregates (NA) by recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), the influence of the rheology modifying admixture use, and the water-cement ratio reduction were investigated. Porosity, hardened density, hydraulic conductivity, infiltration, compressive and flexural tensile strengths, abrasion resistance, elasticity modulus, and Poisson's ratio were analyzed. The laboratory study results showed that the RCA replacement improves the hydraulic properties and decrease mechanical behavior. A test section composed of a pervious concrete surface layer with 100% RCA was built to verify the field performance. In situ infiltration tests were performed, and a Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD) was used to measure pavement deflections. Comparing the field results to those obtained in laboratory, it was found that only the compressive strength showed significant difference. The high standard deviation in test results strengthens the need for strict control of the material physical properties in the field. The global analysis of laboratory and field results showed that the sustainable concrete developed follows the Brazilian standard for pervious pavements and international recommendations.