Concrete Paving

There are few materials as durable and versatile as concrete. It's a strong, long-term solution for a variety of applications which make it ideal for paving.

Starting Your Concrete Paving Project

When water is added to cement, the concrete immediately begins to set. This set time is directly proportional to the surface area of the milled particles. Generally speaking, the finer the particles are milled the faster the concrete will set. Fast setting concrete can be chemically inhibited with the addition of gypsum to the mix. All State Paving uses ready-mix concrete produced at permanent mixing sites and delivers to your project ready to be placed. Concrete typically sets in 6 hours, but its strength will continue to rise for weeks after being placed as long as water is available to keep it hydrated.

How Fast Does Concrete Cure?

Short cure times are one of the major benefits of concrete. Closed traffic lanes can be opened in as little as 6 hours and cars can begin driving on the fresh pavement. After weeks of strengthening, concrete can be expected to have a lifespan of up to 50 years. Repairs and maintenance are much less common than asphalt (which requires regular resurfacing and pothole repairing). Although less upkeep is necessary, all pavement is susceptible to cracking. To mitigate the risk of uncontrollable cracks throughout the concrete, joints are created to set precisely where they will appear over time. With long life and little to spend on repairs, the overall life-cycle cost of concrete makes it a popular choice for pavement. This means fewer roads being shutdown to create work zones and an overall increase in safety for commercial concrete paving projects.

The Environment, Concrete, And Asphalt.

Less equipment means concrete has better environmental advantages; especially during the initial construction phase. Cement.org suggests the average fuel demand for concrete requires about 9,000 gallons less than asphalt. The strength of concrete also allows for a thinner sub-base with less materials. After reaching its end-of-life, it can be crushed into aggregate, reused for new projects, and the rebar can be recycled. Smaller environmental benefits include less energy required to illuminate concrete roads and smoother rides for vehicles (the reduced pavement deflection allows for 100s of gallons saved for trucks).

Types Of Cement

All State Paving has the expertise to help you specify which cement type will work best for your construction project. Each manufacturing plant produces a specific type of concrete with unique material composition and heat treatment (with specific heat treat times and temperatures).
• Type I - OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement)
This type of cement is for general purpose and has no special ingredients.During the hydration process, a significant amount of heat is created.
• Type IP - Pozzolan (Blended Cement)
Another general purpose cement used for plastering because of its slump retention. It has better workability and is more durable compared to Type I. It cures at a lower temperature, which reduces cracking risks and greenhouses gas emission.
• Type II - Cement
This cement is ideal for constructing foundations located on property with moderate levels of ground water sulphate. The heat hydration for this type of cement doesn’t get too high and gains strength slower than Type I when curing.
• Type III - Cement
A rapid hardening cement that gains its fully cured strength in 7 days rather than 28 days. This is great when traffic needs to resume as soon as possible or forms need to be removed quickly.
• Type V - Sulphate Resisting (SR)
This cement hardens slowly with its low heat of hydration. It’s useful in applications where the groundwater has high sulphate levels.
• Class “G” - Oil Well Cement
This cement is engineered for extreme conditions and used specifically to ensure wellbore stability in oilfields. The mix requires high sulphate resistance, predictable thickening time, and low viscosity, for maximum strength at high pressures and temperatures.