Internal curing of pervious concrete using lightweight aggregates

Pervious concrete is an important stormwater management technique for the urban environment. Surface raveling is the single most common distress caused primarily by plastic drying and paste shrinkage. Internal curing is one mechanism to provide additional moisture to elevate internal humidity and reduce shrinkage and is most commonly provided through prewetted lightweight aggregates (PLWA). This study evaluated how fine PLWA influence properties when used to completely replace the small portion of conventional fine aggregate present in pervious concrete. Samples were placed at a fixed void content to not confounded results with changes in density. Strength, degree of hydration, shrinkage, and freeze-thaw testing all showed substantial improvements over the control mixture, strongly suggesting that internal curing become routine for pervious concrete.