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Concrete pavement offer many advantages to the driving public and the taxpayers of Florida compared to asphalt pavements. These advantages include, longer service life, less need for maintenance and lane closures, safer and smoother driving conditions, cost effectiveness, short construction time, and sensitivity to the environment. The following are main attributes of concrete pavements:

 

 

Concrete pavements have a proven record of long service life. They last much beyond their design life. Average age of concrete before any need for maintenance is 25 to 30 years or longer. In contrast, asphalt pavements on Florida Interstate system, according to FDOT records, require resurfacing at an average age of 9.9 years, and in some cases as short as 6 years.

 

 

The short resurfacing cycle of asphalt pavements requires more frequent lane closures compared to the low-maintenance concrete pavements. The more frequent lane closures increases the potential for motorist delays, and probability for work zone accidents which can cause injuries and deaths.

 

 

Concrete pavements are skid resistant than asphalt, and maintain this characteristic over their service life. The superior skid resistance of concrete at the micro texture level is due to the use of silica sand in the concrete mix. Also, the concrete pavement surface is grooved to provide effective and sustained frictional resistance at the macro level.

 

Safer driving is also realized on concrete pavements due to the fact that, unlike asphalt, concrete pavements are rigid and do not rut. Driving in wet weather can be much safer with no rutting, lower possibility of hydroplaning, and higher skid resistance of concrete pavements. Add to these advantages the fact that concrete has a much lighter color which improves visibility at night in inclement weather conditions.

 

 

Satellite images from NASA and other studies have shown that lighter color surfaces, such as concrete, reflect more and store less hear than darker color surfaces, such as asphalt. With favorable thermal properties, concrete pavements reduce urban heat island effects in cities, and contribute to lower ambient temperature.

 

 

With the latest innovations in paving equipment and construction efficiency, a concrete pavement can be placed as fast as or even faster than an asphalt pavement. The full concrete layer is placed in one pass of the paving machine, and requires only one cycle of lane closure. In contrast asphalt is milled and overlaid in multiple layers requiring multiple cycles of lane closures.

 

Recent concrete pavements have been placed and textured to provide a smooth and quiet driving experience. Asphalt pavements are also smooth after placement, but they tend to become rough and noisier as cracking and rutting gradually develop in the pavement.

 

 

 

Concrete pavements can be recycled and reused as an aggregate source for pavement bases or in concrete mixtures. The material is chemically inert, and poses no harm to the environment. In fact, concrete mixes used in paving may include from 20% to 50% waste by products of coal-burning power plants, and steel mills, thus saving the need to dispose of them in landfills.

 

 

The life cycle cost of a concrete pavement is generally 10% to 20% lower than an asphalt pavement, based on equivalent design, and frequency of resurfacings and repairs. In fact, for each resurfacing or repair, the FDOT spends an additional 40% of the cost of resurfacing to cover the cost of design, inspection, testing, and maintenance of traffic, restriping, signage and police patrol, etc.

 

 

In summary, concrete pavements are safer, more durable and better value than asphalt for the taxpayers and motorists using Florida streets, roads and highways.