Jack’s Truck Stop in Cullman, AL, got a new concrete parking lot recently, but the usual forms, concrete finishers and carpenters were nowhere to be seen.

The six-acre parking lot was made using roller compacted concrete, a process which utilizes asphalt paving machines and dump trucks instead of ready-mix trucks and finishing crews.

This revolutionary new way to place concrete was selected as the optimum method for expanding the truck stop. It is the second and the largest RCC job done in Alabama. RCC is a zero-slump concrete mixture that is placed and roller compacted with the same equipment used for asphalt pavement construction. In fact, crews with Abramson LLC, used a Blaw-Knox road paver and Ingersoll-Rand rollers.

RCC offers concrete strength and enables heavy traffic to resume within 24 to 72 hours. Truck traffic resumed within three days after each section was completed.

“We couldn’t be happier with the end result and with the short amount of time it took to do the job.” said Don Morgan, owner of Jack’s Truck Stop.

Ready Mix USA delivered the concrete in dump trucks from a temporary central batch plant they established just a few miles from the job site. National Cement provided the cement for the job and Abramson LLC was the contractor.

“We finally have a concrete product that is initially competitive with asphalt,” said Greg Abramson. “This product would be excellent for industrial access roads, large parking areas, rest stops — anywhere there is heavy truck traffic traveling at lower speeds.”

Roller compacted concrete is being used with great success on a variety of projects throughout the country. In addition to cost effectiveness, if offers many benefits to traditional forms of concrete, including greater strength and durability. The cost savings is a result of its method of production, construction, speed of paving operations and lack of required maintenance. Additionally, RCC does not require joints, reinforcing steel or formwork.

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