Ford Homes Historic District – Pavement Restoration

Location: Dearborn, Michigan

Award: Durability

Project Team

Owner: City of Dearborn, MI

Contractor: Zuniga Construction

Concrete: Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete, LLC (SRM)

Slag Cement: Holcim

The City of Dearborn, MI, USA, specifies the most durable materials and methods for its roads and infrastructure. The city reconstructed the streets in the Ford Homes Historic District, using slag cement that was specified in the 15,000 yd3 (11,500 m3) of 3500 psi (24 MPa) concrete, which was batched and delivered by Smyrna Ready Mix, LLC (SRM), and installed by Zuniga Construction.

In the Ford Homes Historic District – Pavement Restoration Project, 25% of the portland cement was replaced with slag cement. The City of Dearborn recognizes that using slag cement reduces the concrete’s permeability while also improving durability. Improving durability was an important aspect of this project because portions of the sidewalk were also part of the scope of work.

Using slag cement improved the rheology of the mixture, which provided more uniform and consistent batching and delivery of loads. This allowed for quicker and easier placing and finishing by the contractor. Most of the concrete was placed late in the construction season, making timing essential because of the cool weather. The 564 lb/yd3 (334 kg/m3) total cementitious mixture, containing 25% slag cement, did not retard the mixture in cool weather, yet yielded compressive strengths well within the required 3500 psi.

Soud El-Jamaly, Senior Project Engineer with the City of Dearborn, commented, “Slag cement is specified by the City due to the improved plastic and hardened characteristics that it provides the concrete. The City also specifies and requires slag cement as the material of choice to best mitigate potential alkali-silica reaction (ASR) concerns. Lastly, although it is not often recognized in pavement, the City appreciates the sustainable benefits that slag cement brings to a yard of concrete.”

Application Type

% Slag Cement Replacement	25%
% Portland Cement	75%
% Portland Limestone Cement
% Other SCM (if applicable)
Aggregate
Water/cement ratio	.45
7-day strengths	3900 psi
28-day strengths	5200 psi