Air Entrained Concrete

Erosion of busy roadways is a costly issue especially in areas subject to snow and ice and heavy use of studded snow tires. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has paved a 600 foot section of the I-90 highway near Spokane with HARD-CEM concrete to assess durability and longevity. The test highway experiences significant abrasion and rutting from high traffic volumes and studded tire wear in winter months.

Cost-effectively hardening the surface of highway concrete without negatively affecting other aspects of concrete performance has always been a challenge.

Cementec worked closely with (WSDOT) contractors & engineers on comparative performance testing over a twelve month period.

HARD-CEM was added to the concrete at the plant from a silo at a rate of 67.4 lbs/yd. The 600 foot single lane test section was poured and finished in less than 3 hours. The contractors were impressed with the ease of handling, texture, and finishing. The next test phase includes a series of comparative measurements on the roadway over the winter months. We are committed to incorporating HARD-CEM into longer stretches of highway in 2005. A hardened paving concrete with that could significantly extend the roadway surface lifespan, represents major potential costs savings.