scope:

General

Airport authorities and road agencies face major challenges from increasing traffic volumes on existing airports, roadways, and urban streets. Owners must repair or replace deteriorated pavements while maintaining traffic on these structures. Traditional pavement construction, repair, or replacement solutions may no longer be universally acceptable due to increasing public impatience with traffic interruption. Traditional solutions are especially inappropriate in urban areas where congestion is severe. Accelerated construction techniques for portland cement concrete pavement resolve these problems by providing quick public access to a highquality, long-lasting pavement. Accelerated construction techniques are suitable for new construction, reconstruction, or resurfacing projects. Accelerated construction for concrete paving is often referred to as "fast-track" concrete paving. Accelerated paving encompasses two classes of activities: technological methods to accelerate the rate of strength gain and contractual methods to minimize the construction time.

Many methods exist to accelerate pavement construction. Two traditional acceleration methods are time incentives and penalties for project completion. Agencies have been using these time-of-completion incentives for many years, and often contractors will meet these requirements by lengthening the work day or increasing the size of construction crews. Using accelerated paving techniques, a contractor often can complete a project without increasing crew size or changing normal labor schedules.