Shrinkage properties of compacted sand concrete used in pavements

Compacted sand concrete is being researched for potential usage in road construction because of shortage in gravel resources in many countries. However, one of the problems for this material with such application is shrinkage cracking. This paper presents the results of the unrestrained shrinkage test performed on three different compacted sand concrete mixes. Two existing shrinkage prediction models, namely the ACI 209 and the CEB 90, were used to fit the measured shrinkage data. The CEB 90 model with an application of a correction factor was found to perform well with compacted sand concrete. Based on the results of the shrinkage tests, joint spacing between compacted sand concrete slabs was calculated.