Resurfacing or rehabilitating your concrete pavement is a great way to ensure the longevity of the structure. Resurfacing is a middle ground between a complete replacement and full depth concrete pavement repairs. Before you start the concrete pavement rehabilitation process, here are some useful tips to keep in mind.
Clean the surface before concrete pavement rehabilitation
To prepare for your concrete pavement rehabilitation and resurfacing, remove dirt, grime, and debris from the surface of your ACI concrete pavement. Use a pressure washer or hire a reliable and experienced pressure washing service .
Another thing to do is to patch spalled, cracked, splintered, or chipped areas. Patching will make the surface is level and ensure the best possible results for the resurfacing project. If you are wondering how to repair cracks in concrete roads, use a mix of 7 parts resurfacer with 1 part water to fill the recesses.
Apply resurfacer
Once you have properly cleaned and patched the area, it’s time to apply a resurfacer to proper concrete pavement rehabilitation. Determine whether you need to do a bonded or unbonded resurfacing. The difference between the two are outlined below:
- Bonded resurfacing primarily utilizes grout or plain cement mix, composed of Portland cement and water. This mix will serve as the bond between the old and the new layers. Bonded resurfacing will increase the durability of your pavement since it builds on the strength of the old layer.
- Unbonded resurfacing, on the other hand, works best for pavements where the underlying layer is highly distressed or very weak. If you proceed with bonded resurfacing under these conditions, the weakness of the old layer will transfer over to the new one. Some examples of unbonded interface materials are asphalt-aggregate mixtures and wax-based curing compounds.
Facilitate proper drainage
One concrete pavement repair detail that a lot of contractors fail to remember is to provide for proper water drainage. Check out the following steps:
- Assess whether there are any signs of distress in the pavement such as pumping, potholing joint faults, or corner breaks.
- One crucial concrete pavement preservation guide is to create cross slopes in the pavement to act a drainage system.
- Create texture for skid resistance.
- Have a subsurface drainage facility while you are carrying out the resurfacing process.
Use reinforcement during concrete pavement rehabilitation
Depending on the type of pavement you have, you might need to use distributed deformed steel as reinforcement. This will prevent cracking and ensure proper installation. Traditionally, the concrete pavement rehabilitation process involves the use of concrete resurfacers or hot-mix asphalt. However, using overlays can also work as concrete road repair methods or as a preservation technique.
If you are using overlays which connects through joints, carefully consider the slab length. If the slab is less than 4.6 meters in length, you don’t need to use reinforcement. On the other hand, if you are using concrete-reinforced overlays , make sure that you also employ longitudinal reinforcement. This will prevent transverse cracks and the subsequent penetration of unnecessary chemicals.