PURPOSES : In many European countries, the fine-size exposed aggregate concrete pavement (EACP) technique has been adopted for a quiet pavement. However, different noise reduction levels were reported based on the mixture design and texture conditions. This study aims to suggest a quality control condition for achieving low-noise texture and a mixture design procedure for exposed aggregate concrete overlay (EACO), which will provide the optimum mixture of the surface texture that can reduce the tire-pavement noise. METHODS : The tire-pavement noise is highly influenced by the pavement surface texture. The surface texture of the EACP can be quantified by the mean texture depth (MTD) and the exposed aggregate number (EAN). The optimum condition for the low-noise texture of the EACP was investigated herein based on the analysis of the review of the texture conditions and noise measurement in many EACP sites. RESULTS : The MTD and EAN criteria can be derived according to the investigated relationship between noise and texture condition. The optimum mixture design to satisfy these criteria can be achieved by controlling the maximum size of the coarse aggregate and the S/a. CONCLUSIONS: This study aimed to suggest a quality control condition for achieving low-noise texture and an optimum mixture design for EACO. As a result, we found that the early traffic opening of EACO can be achieved by using high early-strength cement.

PURPOSES : In Korea, asphalt overlay has been used as a typical alternative rehabilitation method for deteriorated pavements. However, asphalt overlay has problems due to poor bonding of the asphalt overlay and the old concrete. Recently, concrete overlays, which have advantages such as long-term durability and high structural capacity to carry heavy traffic, have been considered for rehabilitation construction. However, concrete overlays have limitations such as difficulty in opening to traffic and pavement noise. Recently, an appropriate fine-size exposed aggregate concrete pavement technique was reported to solve these problems. Therefore, this study aims to suggest an optimum mixture design of fine-size exposed aggregate concrete overlay (EACO) that can ensure low noise and early strength. METHODS : The optimum mixture design of fine-size EACO is determined to ensure adequate structural performance for early traffic opening and good functional performances such as low noise. Therefore, the optimum mixture proportion is determined based on the optimum design of aggregate content to produce a low-noise pavement texture by controlling the exposed aggregate number (EAN) and mean texture depth (MTD). RESULTS : The water-cement ratio and unit cement ratio were used to determine the mixture designs to achieve workability and adequate strength for early traffic opening. The texture was determined by selecting the maximum size of coarse aggregate smaller than 10 mm with an S/a ratio of less than 30% for low noise. With these mixture proportions, the EAN and MTD were 50±5 / 25cm2 and 1.0±0.2 mm. Respectively, which meet the criteria for EACO. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, an optimum mixture design of EACO for early traffic opening and low noise is suggested by using earlyhigh strength cement, and the pavement texture is implemented considering EAN and MTD. In addition, a pavement surface texture criterion is suggested for the quality control of EACO.