Minimum cost design of sulphur concrete pavements

Two types of paving materials have traditionally been used for surfaces that must be better than can be provided by materials such as gravel or soil-cement. Portland-cement concrete has been designed based on procedures that recognize the rigid nature of this material. Asphaltic concrete has, on the other hand, been designed based on a recognition of the flexible nature of this material.We have found that, with minor differences in the amounts of suitable additives, sulphur concrete can be tailored to have different stiffness characteristics ranging between asphaltic concrete and Portland-cement concrete. With this material we have an opportunity therefore to choose the material stiffness that will result in the minimum pavement thickness for a given situation. The optimum material stiffness has been determined, based on different sub-base stiffnesses for standard wheel loads.The results of this investigation should be of interest to all engineers faced with the responsibility for designing pavements. Keywords: pavement, sulphur concrete, minimum cost design, highways.