Due to a high degree of damages and undesirable final results of bonded overlays, research has been conducted to develop recommendations on design and execution. Laboratory and half scale tests as well as theoretical analyses have been carried out including e. g. base and end restraint tests on overlays with various reinforcement, concrete qualities, substrate preparing and curing. Also, analytical and numerical calculations have been performed. Results reveal that the bond between overlay and substrate is the most critical parameter for a successful final result. Other key parameters are shrinkage and curing, while fibre and bar reinforcement generally proved to be less significant. Theoretical models work well on this case and will be further developed

Due to a high degree of damages and undesirable end results of bonded overlays, research is conducted to develop recommendations on design and execution. Laboratory and full scale tests as well as theoretical analyses have been carried out including e. g. base and end restraint tests on overlays with various reinforcement, concrete qualities, substrate preparing and curing. Moreover, analytical and numerical calculations have been performed. Results reveal that the e. g. bond between overlay and substrate is a critical parameter for a successful end result. Another key parameter is sufficient curing, while reinforcement generally proved to be less significant. Theoretical models works well on this structural situation and will be further developed.

Shrinkage cracking of self-compacting concrete (SCC) overlays with and without steel fibres has been assessed through laboratory testing and theoretical analysis. Test results verified that steel fibre reinforcement has a crack width limiting effect. However, the contribution in case of fibre contents up to 0.75 vol% was not found to be sufficient to distribute cracks in situations where bond to the substrate was nonexistent. Thus, even higher steel fibre contents (or other types of fibres) are required in order to control cracks. A distributed pattern of fine cracks was however obtained even for unreinforced SCC within bonded areas of the overlays. This implies that steel fibres, or other crack reinforcement, are not required if high bond strength is obtained. An analytical model, proposed to assess the risk of cracking and to predict crack widths in overlays, was found to give reasonable correlation with experimental results

Steel fibres are often applied as crack reinforcement in overlays even though methods for the design with respect to crack widths are not yet available. Thus, the intention was for the research to form a basis for future design of overlays with respect to cracks. A main ambition was to give guidance on e.g. type of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) required to limit crack widths and how to prepare the substrate surface in order to produce a high and even base restraint. Test methods and theoretical analysis has been applied to fulfil the aims. The experimental part consisted of end-restrained shrinkage tests, bond tests and half scale overlay tests. End-restrained shrinkage and half scale overlay tests were conducted in order to evaluate the effect of steel fibres for different restraint situations while the bond tests were intended to give information regarding the appropriateness of different substrate treatments from a bond strength perspective. Test results showed that the situation of restraint has a significant influence on the cracking response. A single crack developed if the overlay was restrained only at the ends for both un-reinforced concrete as well as for SFRC. However, the crack width was found to be reduced due to the addition of steel fibres. In case of a continuous restraint provided by bond to the substrate on the other hand, numerous well distributed, fine cracks were observed. For this situation there was no measurable influence of fibres on the width and distribution of cracks. A conclusion is thus that reinforcement is not required in case of thin overlays (depths of 50 mm have been studied) if a high and even bond strength is obtained. Test results verified that high bond strength can be achieved by pre-moistening the substrate prior to overlaying, in combination with thorough cleaning. However, the substrate should be allowed to dry back prior to overlaying, as a wet surface was shown to be deteriorating for the bond strength. Caution is also recommended if the overlay is cast onto a dry substrate. In case of insufficient bond strength, with an apparent risk for partial debonding, i.e. parts of the overlay debond while other parts are still bonded, reinforcement is however required to limit crack widths. A theoretical method has been proposed for the design of SFRC for such situations and predictions have been verified through comparisons with experimental results.

Delivery precision and fleet optimisation are highly prioritised within the ready mix concrete industry. Introducing a Global Positioning System (GPS) for logistic steering and planning provides a tool to make improvements on these areas. Such a system is presently under evaluation at a ready mix concrete supplier in Stockholm, Sweden. The system consists of GPS receivers in the trucks that send relevant information via the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) net to a server. A direct effect of implementing a GPS system is that the plants and the order central will be able to better control the whereabouts of the concrete trucks. As a result it will be possible to decrease the waste time at the plants. Another result is that the ratio of usage of concrete trucks will increase, leading to cut-downs in the truck fleet. It is further believed that the lead-time at work sites can be reduced as the delivery precision is improved. By eventually letting the contractor be a part of the system the possibilities for a good production planning at the work site will increase and the non-value adding activities will decrease due to reduced waiting time. The article presents findings from a pilot study in Stockholm, Sweden. An important ambition is to find out if the system gives the expected benefits. The customer value is evaluated through interviews and time measurements.