LESSON 5

Interlocking Concrete Block

Pavements
2 Lesson Objectives

This lesson is intended to;

 Introduce interlocking concrete block pavements as
another form of flexible pavement.
 Expose students to the many uses of this type of pavements.
 Explain the basic structure of interlocking concrete block
pavements and how the pavement mobilizes resistance
against load.
 Introduce students to the design and construction of
interlocking concrete block pavements.
3
Lesson Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
 Identify the uses of interlocking concrete blocks.
 Explain how interlocking concrete block pavements
achieve stability against load.
 Design and construct interlocking concrete block
pavements.
4
Interlocking Concrete Block Pavements
 Historically, interlocking concrete block paving originated from
small-element surfacing which involved stone setts, wooden blocks
and bricks used for early city pavements in some parts of Europe in
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
 Today, interlocking concrete block pavements have extensive use
which covers the following:
o Paving of container terminals at ports and harbours.
o Paving of road sections subjected to static or slow-moving
traffic.
5

o Paving of courtyards.
o Paving of driveways.
o Paving of parking areas.
o Paving of pedestrian walkways.
o Paving of large public precincts.
o Construction of speed humps to calm traffic.
o Paving of surfaces subjected to oil spillage.
6 Pavement Response to Load
 Load spreading in the pavement is achieved by interlocking
of the blocks which is improved when the underlying layer
allows a degree of “bedding-in” or some amount of
settlement to take place.
 Progressive settlement due to traffic use leads to full
mobilization of block interlock or block “lock-up”, thus
allowing the block units to act as a coherent layer.
 Resistance to vertical, horizontal and rotational loads is
achieved through friction developed from the use of sand in
block joints.
 Block pavements behave as flexible pavements and are
designed as such despite being composed of an array of
rigid interlocking concrete units.
7
Advantages
Interlocking concrete block pavement system offers the
advantages of both concrete materials and flexible
pavements. The following are the major advantages;
o High abrasion and skid resistance of surfacing.
o Block units suffer no damage from petroleum products.
o There is no effect from high temperatures.
o No curing time required as with concrete (rigid)
pavements.
o Once installed, pavement is immediately ready for traffic
use.
8 Advantages cont’d
 Cracking and degradation of the surfacing is minimised.
 It is resistant to high static loads.
 It is resistant to horizontal (lateral) loads.
 Allows easy access to underground utilities.
 Mechanical installation of blocks can shorten construction
time.
 Ease of replacement of broken blocks.
 Rapid draining due to chamfered joints.
9 Advantages cont’d
 Blocks move with settling soils without cracking while still
providing a serviceable pavement.
 Blocks are re-useable after maintenance of underlying layers
or access to underground utilities.
 Serviceability is maintained under substantially more rutting
than other pavements.
 Re-laying of blocks after access to underground utilities or
maintenance leaves very little to no surface scar.
10
Block Characteristics
 Paving blocks are manufactured to thicknesses of 60, 75, 80,
100mm, etc.; the 80mm size being the most extensively
used.
 There is no limit to the shapes to which blocks may be
manufactured; block shape may vary from rectangular to
hexagonal, dentated and other proprietary shapes.
 The more complex a block shape is, the better the interlock
and stability the pavement achieves.
 Pigmented (coloured) blocks may also be laid for
environmental aesthetics.
11 Examples of Block Shapes
12
.
13 Pigmented blocks

Pigmented blocks for environmental aesthetics

14

Structural Design
 Structurally, block pavements are considered as flexible
pavements with the surfacing consisting of a block layer
underlain by a thin layer of sand.
 They are designed like any flexible pavement to resist
excessive rut deformation or structural failure from the
cumulative damaging effect of vehicles.
 Several design charts suited to particular conditions exist.
15
Design Parameters
The design parameters to consider are the same as those for
flexible pavements and are the following:
a) Traffic loading
This is expressed in terms of the cumulative ESALs over the
design life.
b) Subgrade strength
The subgrade strength may be denominated by any of the
following parameters; resilient modulus (Mr), or CBR (soaked)
or R-value.
16 c) Layer materials
Block pavements may be designed to have any of the following
materials for the base course:
i) Unbound Aggregate Base
Crushed rock or natural gravel materials that meet base
quality requirements.
ii) Asphalt-treated Base
Material must be dense-graded with a minimum Marshall
Stability of 8,000N.
iii) Cemented-treated Base
Material should have 7-day unconfined compressive
strength of at least 4.5MPa.
 Design: Interlocking Concrete Pavement
17
Institute (ICPI) Method
 The ICPI design method first assumes that the pavement
structure consists of a layer of blocks underlain by a bedding
sand on a base course without a sub-base.

Blocks
Bedding sand

Base H=?

Subgrade
18
ICPI Design Method cont’d
 The thickness of the base course (H) required for the
level of traffic and sub-grade strength is then
determined.
 A sub-base layer (soaked CBR≥30%) is then
introduced into the pavement structure to replace
a portion of the estimated base thickness.
 The thickness of the sub-base layer is determined
using layer equivalency factors set in Table 5.1,
depending on the base material type.
19

Table 5.1. Layer equivalency for converting unit thickness of base to

sub-base thickness.

Layer Equivalency for

Unit Thickness of Base Type converting to Sub-base
Thickness
Unbound Aggregate Base 1.75
Cemented-treated Base 2.5
Asphalt-treated Base 3.4
20  When a portion of the base is replaced by sub-base material, a
minimum thickness of the estimated base must be retained
using the values in Table 5.2 as a guide.
Table 5.2. Minimum base thicknesses of interlocking concrete
pavements

Base Material Type Minimum Thickness (mm)

All unbound Aggregate 100
Layers
Aggregate Base 100 (for ESALs<500,000)
(CBR≥80%) 150 (for ESALs≥500,000)
Cemented-treated Base 100
Asphalt-treated Base 75
 Block Pavement Design Charts
21

Fig. 5.3. Thickness design chart for aggregate base

22

Fig. 5.4. Thickness design curves for asphalt-treated base

23

Fig. 5.5. Thickness design curves for cement-treated base

24
Design Steps
Step 1
 Convert the expected traffic over the design life into ESALs
and denominate the sub-grade strength in any of the
following parameters: CBR (soaked), MR or R-value.
Step 2
 Select the chart for the type of base being designed (Fig 5.3
for unbound aggregate (crushed rock) base; Fig. 5.4 for
asphalt-treated base; Fig. 5.5 for cement-treated base).
25
Step 3
 Enter the chart with the design CBR, or MR or R-value (on
horizontal axis) representing the sub-grade strength and
move vertically to the design ESAL line, then move
horizontally to the vertical axis and read off the base
thickness required on the scale. Where necessary,
interpolation technique may be employed.
Step 4
 Replace all or part of the base thickness (obtained in Step
3) which is in excess of the minimum base thickness
requirements given in Table 5.2 by sub-base material (CBR
≥30%).
26
 A unit thickness of base is converted to equivalent sub-base
thickness using the corresponding layer equivalency factors in
Table 5.1.
Step 5
 Obtain the designed structure as;
o Thickness of sub-base
o Thickness of base
o Thickness of compacted sand layer
o Thickness of block layer
27 Construction
a) Bedding Sand
 Concrete block pavements must be constructed on a
layer of bedding sand.
 The sand layer does not contribute to the structural
capacity of the block pavement but serves the following
purposes:
1) To serve as a regulating layer and provide an even
surface on which to lay the blocks.
2) To accommodate the manufacturing tolerance on
block height.
3) To act as a stress attenuating layer (cushion) in order to
prevent local stress concentrations which could
damage the blocks.
28

 Current design trend is towards using 20-40mm

compacted thickness of bedding sand but a value of
25mm is generally recommended.
 Thicker sand layers only result in greater surface
deflection.
 Sands that exhibit higher values of angle of friction
(φ) are preferred as they tend to rut less.
29

 Sands that are sharp rather than rounded have been

found to lead to better pavement performance.
 Sands having maximum particle size of 5mm and not
more than 3% of fractions less than 75μm are
recommended.
 Table 5.3 provides the recommended gradation for
the bedding sand in accordance ASTM C33.
30
Sieve Size Percent Passing
3/8 inches (9.5mm) 100
No. 4 (4.75mm) 95-100
No. 8 (2.36mm) 80-100
No. 16 (1.18mm) 50-85
No. 30 (0.600mm) 25-60
No. 50 (0.150mm) 10-30
No. 100 (0.150mm) 2-10
No. 200 (0.075mm) 0-1

Table 5.3. Recommended Gradation of Bedding Sand

 b) Laying and Compaction
31
 Blocks are laid with a joint spacing of 2-3mm to any of
several possible patterns, namely, stretcher, herringbone,
basket weave, Chevron, etc. (see Fig. 5.6).

Fig. 5.6. Examples of block laying patterns

32

 The herringbone pattern has been found to result in the

highest block stability.
 Using pigmented (coloured) blocks, it is possible to lay the
blocks to any desired patterns to improve environmental
aesthetics, especially, in large public precincts.
 After laying, the blocks are compacted with a high
frequency plate compactor to seat them properly in the
bedding sand.
33
c) Jointing Sand
 The 2-3mm joint spacing between blocks are filled with sand called
jointing sand.
 The sand is first broadcast on the pavement surface and then
swept into the joints. This is then followed by compaction with the
plate compactor until the joints are filled.
 Jointing sand must be finer than the bedding sand and must have
a maximum of 100% passing Sieve No. 16 (1.18mm) and no more
than 10% passing Sieve No. 200.
34
 The presence of the jointing sand adds some degree of
imperviousness to the surfacing and creates friction between
adjacent blocks to ensure the following:
i. Vertical interlock: prevents individual blocks from moving
vertically relative to their neighbours when loaded.
ii. Horizontal interlock: prevents individual blocks from moving
horizontally relative to their neighbours when subjected to a
lateral thrust from rotating wheels.
iii. Rotational interlock: prevents individual blocks from rotating
about their base when subjected to eccentric loading.
iv. Load transfer: enables the load on a block to be shared by
neighbouring blocks.
35
d) Block Stability

 The block units forming the surfacing must be stable and

remain in their placement positions when subjected to
vertical, horizontal and eccentric (rotational) loads.
 Stability is achieved mainly by interlock developed through
friction, wedge action, and the geometric arrangements of
the block so that a load applied to a block is supported by
the block, its immediate neighbours, and to some extent, its
distant neighbours.
36

 Altogether, there are five ways by which paving block

pavements achieve stability.
1) Edge restraint
o This is the restraint to prevent the outward movement of the
bedding sand and blocks at the edge of the pavement
offered by a solid or firm structure such as a curb.
o The blocks must be laid to abut (touch) the firm structure, or
where there are spaces between blocks and the structure
because of geometric limitations, the spaces must be filled
with lean concrete.
37

Outward movement of blocks due to lack of edge restraint.

38 2)Vertical interlock
This is the restraint offered by the friction created by the jointing
sand to resist vertical movement (usually downward) when
blocks come under vertical loads.
3) Horizontal interlock
This is the restraint offered by the friction created by the jointing
sand and the wedge action between adjacent blocks to resist
horizontal movement when blocks come under lateral thrust.
4) Rotational interlock
This is the restraint to rotational movement offered by the friction
created by the jointing sand between blocks and the wedge
action between adjacent blocks when blocks come under
eccentric loads.
39 5) Geometrical interlock
This is the restraint to both vertical and horizontal movements
developed as a result of the geometry (shape) of the block and the
manner in which the blocks have been laid (see Fig. 5.7).

Fig. 5.7. Some examples of restraints to block movement