Efficiency and Economic Analysis of No-Fines Concrete as Construction Material in Parking Lots

Use of No-fines concrete as a building material is comparatively a new innovation. To determine the aptness of this type of concrete for constructing the pavement of a parking lot is the aim of this study. The thickness of the pavement made of no-fines concrete was decided on the basis of the engineering properties of the special concrete mixtures prepared in the laboratory, and various traffic conditions and sub-grade characteristics. The constant cement-aggregate ratio of 1: 5 was maintained for the development of the pervious concrete mixtures. The gradation of coarse aggregates used for this study comprised of 20-16 mm, 16-13.2 mm and 13.2-9.5 mm and water-cement ratio was changed from 0.45 to 0.35. The compressive strength of the no-fines concrete mixtures after 28 days of curing was found to be in the range of 9-20 M Pa. The compressive strength of 18.22 M Pa was maximum and as such was used to design the safe thickness of the pavement of no-fines parking lot. The required thickness of the pavement was 400 mm. Further, the cost of the no-fines parking lot was estimated as Rs. 1,34,107 per 100 m² and was compared with the cost of the parking lot made of interlocking concrete blocks which was computed as Rs. 86,192 per 100 m². The difference was due to expensive materials and increased pavement thickness used to design the no-fines parking lot. However, in long term, the former is considered to be more cost effective due to its increased porosity and other numerous advantages.