Not Concrete or Asphalt but Concrete and Asphalt

Abstract

In Sweden and many other countries, there is an intensive competition between asphalt and concrete pavement alternatives. Competition is generally beneficial for economy, development, and quality, but the debate between the two industries is sometimes not based on facts. The asphalt alternative may be the most suitable solution for most cases, whereas the concrete alternative is better in cases with especially high requirements such as cases with very high traffic volumes or through tunnels. There are also advantages in alternatives where you install concrete side by side with asphalt, e.g., by placing concrete in the most trafficked lane and asphalt in the second lane mainly devoted to passes. Furthermore, there exist successful solutions with both concrete on top of asphalt (so called whitetoppings) and asphalt on top of concrete or cement-treated base. The paper describes the advantages and disadvantages with concrete and asphalt as well as the conditions for the various combination alternatives from both a general and a specific Swedish perspective.