Application of Steel Fiber in Increasing the Strength, Life-Period and Reducing Overall Cost of Road Construction (by Minimizing the Thickness of Pavement)

Abdul Ahad, Zishan Raza Khan, Shumank Deep Srivastava

Department of Civil Engineering, Integral University, Lucknow, India.

DOI: 10.4236/wjet.2015.34025                

Abstract

Recently, the use of steel fiber at high rates has been introduced as the sole method of reinforcement for fully elevated-suspended slabs having long span such as 5 m to 8 m each way, with a span to depth ratio of up to 33 [1]. As a result of long practical experience the total replacement of traditional rebar is a new routine. Now it is also used in the designing of SFRC pavements over conventional concrete pavements. Within the project framework a demonstration of a steel-fiber-reinforced roller-compacted concrete (SFR-RCC) pavement was constructed in a rural as well as urban area. In order to assess the economical condition of the demonstration pavement, life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) studies were undertaken. This is the advancement study of the various papers which is already published in many publications which serve as the main and important source of study for the research. Many applications of steel fiber are listed in the paper but the main output of this paper is that SFR-RCC is more economically sustainable than others and also helps in reducing the thickness of the pavement up to 20 to 25 percent, due to the excessive strength of steel fiber. The roads of the present system required high cost investment. And the life period is almost 20 years theoretically but the actual life of the road is depending on the maintenance and the applied load. The constructions of road have been done since the 3500 BC but the method does not change fully. Also the cost of the construction is increased continuously; as a result, the construction of roads is more and more complicated and time taken. For the better and economical construction of the roads, we use steel fibers in the composite pavement. The theoretical plan of the construction of composite pavement is given in the methodology, which gives the appropriate idea about the construction of road using steel fiber. Here we use the composite pavement in which the steel fiber is mixed in the concrete layer, after which the bitumen layer is laid for the smooth and suitable riding of the vehicles.

Keywords

Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) Roads, History of Roads, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA), Concrete Reinforcement, Economical Road

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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