National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

How does internal curing of concrete affect performance and long-term stability of concrete? Three new reports from the National Concrete Pavement Technology (CP Tech) Center offer timely assessments of several aspects of the internal curing (IC) process for professionals working with concrete.  The reports provide guidance, analysis, and information about impacts of IC on construction and performance of concrete pavements and other concrete applications. Peter Taylor, director of the CP Tech Center, was the lead investigator on the projects. Funding for the work came from the Federal Highway Administration, the Iowa Highway Research Board, and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

A recently published manual called Guide Specification for Internally Curing Concrete offers advice and helpful tips for the development of project specifications for internally cured concrete projects. The information presented will supplement a transportation agency’s standard specifications for concrete pavements. The guide also directs the user to resources, videos, and tools for internal curing practices.

The new report on Impacts of Internal Curing on the Performance of Concrete Materials in the Laboratory and the Field summarizes the effects of internal curing on the performance of practical concrete mixtures designed for the construction of jointed plain concrete pavements (JPCPs) in Iowa. The research project described in the report involved the construction of a sidewalk using a control mixture and a mixture containing lightweight fine aggregates (LWFAs).

The December 2017 publication Lifecycle Cost Analysis of Internally Cured Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement covers an investigation into the relative costs and benefits of internal curing of concrete using a lifecycle cost analysis (LCCA) that compares internally cured (IC) jointed plain concrete pavement to conventionally cured (CC) pavement. This analysis was based on a pavement designed for use in Dubuque, IA.