Recycling of Portland Cement Concrete Airport Pavements

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Recycling of Portland Cement Concrete Airport Pavements - A State-of-the-Art Study

M. C. Hironaka / R. B. Brownie / G. Y. Wu

An investigation was performed to assess the state-of-the-art of recycling Portland cement concrete (PCC) airport pavements. Previous laboratory studies have shown that recycling of PCC pavements is technically and economically feasible. This has been demonstrated in airport reconstruction projects at Jacksonville International Airport (Florida), Love Field (Texas), and Coffeyville Municipal Airport (Kansas), where PCC was recycled into econocrete base and aggregate subbase, cement stabilized base, and part of the aggregate base course, respectively. Recycling of PCC for surface courses in airport pavement construction has not yet been performed, but this should also prove to be beneficial as has been experienced by the Iowa DOT and other state highway agencies who have recycled PCC for surface courses. Equipment for recycling PCC pavements is currently available in the construction industry; however, these, along with the technology of PCC recycling, could be improved substantially. Recommendations for specific improvements are therefore made. (Author)