History of Local

Government Concrete

Roads

John Nichols

1920 Parramatta Rd, Auburn, 1 km East of Duck River

Parramatta Road

• 1918 Gravel, lasted

three years

• 1923 reconstructed,

failed winter of 1925

• 1925 Formation of a

Task Force to solve

Parramatta Rd,

Formation of Main

Roads Board (MRB)

• 1925-33 Concrete

prime paving material

15 July 1927 14 May 1928

“Beneath the mighty pylons of the North Shore Bridge …..”

1928

1880 King Street, Sydney

• Base for wood block paving

• 1930 Fifty years later, still being

re-surfaced with wooden blocks

• 1960’s wooden blocks still being

recovered in excavations

1916 Woollahra Council

New South Head Road, Rose Bay

• First concrete running

surface pavement

• Still in service, with AC

surfacing

• 100th Anniversary

1917 Woollahra Council

• Hopetoun Ave, Vaucluse, low maintenance, intention to reduce land rates

• Mayor: W Foster (also a road contractor) “concrete roads in Woollahra had a profound effect on property values – doubled in five years”

“Where concrete goes down, values go up”

1918 Alfred Street, North Sydney

• 1928 Demolished for

SHB approaches

1919 Walker Street, North Sydney

Early Pavement details (before 1920)

• Slab thickness: 6”

• Placed directly on subgrade

Fossillised grass impressions on slab underside

• Concrete: 1:2:6 Cement : Sand : Agg

• Reo: 3/8” bar or rectangular mesh

1923 Botany Road Pavement

• Botany area: Heavy industry & wet sandy

subgrade

• “a quagmire in the wet and a ribbon of dust in

the dry”

• Municipalities of Alexandria, Waterloo, Mascot

& Botany formed:

Botany Road Trust Constitution Bill

• Construction starting ceremony by the premier

Sir George Fuller 10 December 1923

1923 Botany Road Pavement

• Slab thickness: 8” with edges 10”

• Concrete 1 : 1.5 : 3

Cement : Sand : Agg

• Reo 3/8” bars on a 9” square grid

• Imported paving machine with

mixing drum

1923 Botany Road Pavement

• Benefits were immediate

• Doubling of traffic flow

• Benefits estimated as several times the cost of

sinking fund and interest

• Confirmed that it paid to build good roads

• Success led to Parramatta Road Solution.

1925 Parramatta Road

• 1925 Formation of the

Main Roads Board

• Task Force to solve

Parramatta Rd

• 1925-33 Concrete

prime paving material

1925 Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill

• First year of operation

of MRB

• On behalf of a group of

inner western

municipalities

1928 Edgeware Road, Marrickville

1928 Edgeware Road, Marrickville

Deficiencies in early

concrete roads

Deficiencies in early concrete roads

• Poor subgrade preparation

• Lack of sub-bases

• Inadequate shear load transfer

• Wide joints

• Low concrete strength

• Thin concrete base thickness

• Low compaction

Subsequent Australian

Pavement Milestones

1929 Hume Highway Marulan

Mulwarree Shire Council & MRB

• 8 km long

• Contractor: Concrete

Constructions (Roads)

Ltd

1930 Sydney to Newcastle Road

1952 Princes Highway

Georges River approaches

• 8 km section

• Wide expansion joints

• Placed on 2 inches of

sand

1966-69 Warringah Freeway

2.3km long, 23 lanes at Falcon St

• 200mm 18 MPa Concrete

• 150 mm DGB

• 300 mm select subgrade

1975 Clybucca flat

• First deformed bar CRCP in NSW

• First LMC subbase

(130 mm 8Mpa)

• Base 230 mm 4.0 MPa Flex 28day

• 5.5 km, 2 lane, single carriageway

1978 Foreshore Road, Port Botany

• First: Slip form paver

• CRCP

• 11.5 lane km

• Base 200 mm

• Sub-base 125 mm lime stabilised crushed rock

• Reo Long C16@150

Trans C12@500

1979 F4 Homebush

• CRCP

• 13.5 lane km

• Base 200 mm

• Sub-base 100 mm lime

stabilised crushed rock

• Reo

Long C16@155

Trans C12@900

1982

Bicentennial Roads Program to 1988

Pacific Highway, Wyong (May ’82) &

Hume Highway, Tumblong (Jul ‘82)

Completion of Hume & Pacific

Highways: Brisbane to Melbourne

• Last missing link:

• Pacific Highway, Woolgoola – Ballina

156 km Dual Carriageway Freeway

60% concrete

• Dead Line: 2020

History of Local Government Concrete Roads

Evolution of Design & Construction

• Subgrade preparation

• Attention to drainage

• Jointing

• LMC subbase

• PCP, short joint spacing 4-5 m

• Selected use of CRCP

• Pavement thickness, concrete

strength and compaction

• Restoration by Grooving & Grinding

Summary

History of Local

Government Concrete

Roads

John Nichols