Laboratory and Field Evaluation of Concrete Paving Curing Effectiveness (0-5106-3)

Ensuring that sufficient water is available in hydrating concrete is of great importance to produce durable concrete and achieve both short- and long term performance of concrete pavement. Excessive early-age evaporation from the surface of concrete pavement often results in high porosity delaminated and low strength concrete. Application of curing compounds in concrete paving is widely used to minimize evaporation. However, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) standard specifications for pavement construction (Item 526) only defines the use of the membrane curing in terms of key characteristics such as percent solids, density, viscosity, color, and the application rate, but does not specify curing performance or limits on the rate of evaporation. This research utilized several techniques to evaluate curing effectiveness from both a moisture retention and physical properties standpoint, to develop a laboratory-based curing evaluation protocol that has application to the field. A series of tests were carried out to identify factors controlling curing quality under field conditions.