Road curtain is the final, upper part of the pavement structure directly exposed to road load and wear. Its surface, therefore, should be sufficiently flat, resistant to wear and weather, and slip resistant. These requirements are today met by asphalt and concrete curtains, and sometimes stone curtains are also made. Asphalt curtain is the most common today and is made of stone material (aggregates) and bitumen as a binder. According to the composition of the asphalt mixture, the method of its preparation and installation, asphalt concrete, macadam and carpets and cast asphalt are distinguished.
The concrete curtain is made of reinforced or unreinforced concrete in a layer thickness of 16 to 25 cm. To prevent cracking due to road load and temperature changes, the concrete curtain (except on continuously reinforced slabs) is divided by longitudinal and transverse sections into slabs. Due to their stiffness, concrete pavement panels transfer the load to a larger surface, so the load on the pavement is less than on asphalt curtains; that is why such drapes are applied to heavily laden airport runways. The stone curtain is made by stacking cubes, prisms or pebbles in sand or cement substrate (cobblestone), or of several layers of crushed stone and stone fines of different grain sizes without the use of a binder.
-
Concrete substrate -
Anti-slip lining