Explain the merit and demerit of rigid pavement

Merits:

• In wet weather or when exposed to stagnant water, CC pavements do not deteriorate.
• CC pavements on important highways are often designed and constructed for a 30-year term, so their service life could be 30 years or more.
• CC pavements have a substantially lower life cycle cost than flexible pavements.
• The total thickness of CC pavement and the number of hard aggregates required is less than flexible pavements, which is especially important for highways passing through weak soils and carrying heavy traffic loads.

Demerits:

• To lower the life cycle cost of CC pavement, it should be designed to last at least 30 years. The CC pavement design wheel load is not the same as the conventional wheel load. A CC pavement that has failed or is extensively cracked is impossible to repair.
• The CC pavement’s surface is likely to become overly smooth and slippery over time, and re-texturing the CC pavement is difficult or prohibitively expensive.
• Before opening to traffic, a 28-day curing time is usually required. When it comes to creating CC pavements on congested city streets, this could be a disadvantage.