FROM THE ROAD TO THE STREET: DIVERSIFIED AND INNOVATIVE CONCRETE PAVEMENT STRUCTURES FRENCH TRENDS AND GUIDELINES

Abstract

Concrete pavements are found on rural roads as well as on urban and peri-urban roadways. In the design of these rigid structures, official engineering guidelines in France have been completely revised in the past 5 years. The urban environment has been particularly favored with the publication of manuals for standard structures and guides for the design, placement and application of concrete structures and surfacing layers taking fully into account the particular features and requirements of works in and around towns. In addition to these generic roadway documents, particular efforts have been focused on the design of structures for specific applications. Reservoir structures and surface elements incorporated in roadways and in other urban facilities using concrete are one example, another being the pavements of traffic circles, both representing original illustrations of how the specific advantages of concrete are being put to use. These new developments call for compliance with certain rules of the art, which are reviewed in this paper, and which are also dealt with in greater detail in the documents cited in the bibliographical references.