Structural Behavior of Concrete Block Paving. I: Sand in Bed and Joints

The quality of the bedding sand, jointing sand, joint width, and thickness of bedding course in concrete block pavement influence the performance of the entire pavement. A review of the literature revealed a wide range of views regarding the behavior of bedding sand, jointing sand, and concrete blocks in a block pavement. This paper describes the results of a series of tests conducted to investigate the effects of changing parameters of bedding and jointing sand on pavement performance. The influence of block parameters has been presented separately as a companion paper. A laboratory-scale test was used to study these parameters based on static plate loading tests. Eight different grades of sand ranging from coarse to fine were used in the test program. The pavement responses are characterized in terms of deflection due to applied load for half of a legal single axle limit. The results indicate that coarse grade sand is preferable.