2025 Award Winners and Nominees
Project Name
Lower Carbon Content Concrete Pavements MnROAD
Description
Lower Carbon Content Concrete Pavements
As a multi-state, pooled-fund program, the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) provides strategic implementation of pavement engineering solutions through cooperative research. Between 2021 and 2024 the National Road Research Alliance funded four lower carbon content concrete pavement studies:
1. Use of Carbon Dioxide for Sustainable and Resilient Concrete Pavements
2. Use of Alternative Pozzolanic Materials Towards Reducing Cement Content in Concrete
3. Use of Alternative Cementitious Materials in Concrete Pavements
4. Use of Innovative Sustainable and Durable Materials in Concrete Pavements
The studies set the following requirements for the construction of the low carbon concrete material test sections at MnROAD:
1. Material producer must be able to deliver sufficient material to construct a 210 to 270-ft long, 29-ft wide, 7.5-inch-thick test section
2. All mixtures required to be:
a. Batched and mixed in a conventional ready-mix concrete plant
b. Transported using conventional concrete trucks with time to initial set > 45 minutes
c. Capable of placement using a conventional slipform paver
d. Capable of being finished using typical methods
e. Minimum of 30% replacement of cementitious content by weight
f. Material supplier required to conduct trial batching and demonstrate required concrete properties could be met
g. Additive materials supplied at no cost to MnROAD
To provide structural response and performance data from these studies, twenty-four new test sections were constructed at the Minnesota Road Research Facility (MnROAD): 16 sections in 2022, 8 in 2024. The test sections were constructed on the mainline portion of the test track, and therefore subject to live Interstate 94 traffic.
The pavement design details were:
1. 7.5-inch-thick jointed concrete pavement
2. Panel sizes,
a. Driving lane = 15 ft L x 13 ft W, asphalt shoulder
b. Passing lane = 15 ft L x 12 ft W, 4 ft W tied concrete shoulder
3. Unsealed joints
4. 1.25” dia. x 15” long epoxy coated dowel bars
5. Moderately draining gravel base, clay subgrade
Including two control mixtures, there were 14 unique and innovative concrete mixtures placed in 2022. The following tables provide product names and mixture components:
Control Mix = 570 pcy cementitious: 70% ASTM C595 Type IL(10), 30% Coal Creek Class F fly-ash
The second round of test sections constructed at MnROAD were built in 2024. The test sections were developed based on lessons l
Evidence
As can be seen from the description above, this project involved many groups, both public and private. Extensive coordination between all the entities was required. The coordination included work during the pre-design, design and construction phases of the project. As expected, there were many on-the-fly revisions that needed to be completed to meet the project goals. The following NRMCA members were critical to the project success:
1. Holcim (Aggregate Industries) - Ready-mix Concrete and technical expertise
2. Ozinga - Cement
3. Continental Cement – Cement
4. Cemstone - Ready-mix Concrete and technical expertise
5. Aggregate and Ready-Mix Association of Minnesota Members
a. American Engineering Testing, Inc. – Quality Testing
b. Braun Intertech - Quality Testing
The following companies donated materials for the 22-alternative cementitious, alternative supplementary cementitious and carbon sequestration concrete sections in 2022 and 2024:
1. CarbonCure
2. Ultra High Materials
3. Continental Cement
4. Carbon Limit
5. Ash Grove
6. Carbon Upcycling
7. TerraCo2
8. 3M
9. Burgess Pigments
10. C-Crete
11. Slag Cement Association
The research studies responsible for monitoring the behavior and performance of these test sections will have access to the extensive data collection efforts of the MnROAD staff, including material test results, embedded sensor data, and state-of-the-art pavement monitoring equipment.
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