The Search for the Best Concrete Surface Texture Relative to Noise and Skid Resistance in Québec

Concrete pavements under the ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) are located on the highest trafficked roads in the province, often in urban areas. In the late 1990s, the MTQ noted a skid resistance problem for most of the concrete pavements rebuilt since 1994. The texture specified at the time for the new pavements was the result of dragging an Astroturf mat on the surface of the fresh concrete. This produced a low noise pavement, but skid resistance measurements were disappointing. Since 2000, the MTQ has specified the transverse tining on fresh concrete; this technique is known to provide better skid resistance. However, it is sometimes noisier and complaints were recorded in some areas. It was also found that skid resistance issues still occurred because of the limestone coarse aggregate used in almost all concrete pavements since 1994. It has been banned since 2003. Since 2004, to counter the noise effect, the longitudinal tining technique has been increasingly used by MTQ project engineers. Various other techniques were tested on new slabs such as exposed aggregate, shot-blasting and grinding. All our experimental sections were subject to tire-pavement noise measurement by our custom-made equipment.