Minnesota Department of Transportation

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NRRA Rigid Team

The Use of Alternative Cementitious Materials in Concrete Pavements

Status: Developing RFP

Objectives

A few years ago, Missouri had research conducted on geopolymer concrete to determine if it could be a possible alternative to traditional concrete made with Portland cement. Geopolymer concrete involves combining an alumina-silica rich material such as fly ash, slag or calcined clay with an alkali activator such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The alkaline liquid polymerizes the alumina-silica rich material creating a new 3-dimensional inorganic polymetric chain. Laboratory testing indicated geopolymer concrete can achieve comparable strengths and permeabilities as traditional concrete made with Portland cement. This research proposal would build upon that research by constructing test sections of geopolymer concrete at MnROAD to investigate the factors impacting production and placement of geopolymer concrete and determine field performance of geopolymer concrete when exposed to traffic loading and climatic conditions. The following topics would be addressed:

  • Determine what characteristics need to be considered when selecting materials
  • What factors need to be considered when designing geopolymer concrete mixes
  • Develop guidelines for successfully producing and placing geopolymer concrete in the field
  • Determine what field testing needs to be performed to accept geopolymer concrete in the field
  • Monitor structural performance of geopolymer concrete
  • Monitor durability performance of geopolymer concrete

Project team

Technical Liaison: Tom Burnham, MnDOT, tom.burnham@state.mn.us
Project Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) - email the TAP
Contact us to join this TAP

  • Manik Barman, University of Minnesota-Duluth
  • Tom Burnham, MnDOT (TL)
  • Dan Garcanz, Illinois Tollway
  • Alf Gardiner, Braun Intertec
  • Rita Lederle, University of St. Thomas
  • Somayeh Nassiri, Washington State University
  • Xijun Shi, Texas State University
  • Jake Sumeraj, Illinois Tollway

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