Test Methods and Specifications
Concrete Pavement Base
- Publication no: ATS-3530-25
- Published: 22 August 2025
- Edition: 1.1
- PDF (free) Download
Austroads Technical Specification ATS 3530 sets out the requirements for the supply of concrete and construction of the base (upper) layer of the following formats:
- plain concrete pavement (PCP);
- continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP);
- jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP); and
- steel fibre reinforced concrete pavement (SFCP).
It includes the requirements for:
- constituent materials for concrete;
- concrete mix design;
- process control and manufacture of base;
- end product criteria for base;
- quality systems, minimum process standards, plant, sampling and testing.
This Specification covers the construction of road pavements in applications that carry substantial volumes of commercial road vehicles, such as highways. It is not applicable to other applications (such as industrial, commercial or residential pavements, bus bays and minor roads) without suitable modification.
The technical specification can also be downloaded as a Word document.
Edition 1.1 published August 2025
- Clause 10.35 –removed reference to AS 3940 (withdrawn).
- Clause 25.38 b) – amendment to cross reference.
Superseded editions
- 1. Scope
- 2. Referenced Documents
- 3. Definitions
- Abbreviations
- Symbols
- 4. Quality System Requirements
- 5. Materials
- Aggregates – General
- Combined Aggregates
- Fine Aggregate
- Coarse Aggregate
- Alkali-Aggregate Reactivity
- Cementitious Materials
- Admixtures
- Curing Compounds
- General
- Reference Sample
- Initial Delivery
- Subsequent Deliveries
- Joint Sealant
- Steel Reinforcement
- Water
- 6. Design
- General
- Survey at the Top of the Underlying Layer
- Survey Report Prior to Placing Base
- Thickness of Surface Debonding Treatment
- Pavement Levels
- 7. Design of Concrete Mixes
- General
- Mix Particle Size Distribution
- Cementitious Content
- Strength
- Consistence
- Shrinkage
- Other Concrete Attributes
- 8. Nominated Concrete Mixes
- Submission of Nominated Mixes
- Details Required for Each Nominated Mix
- Constituent Materials
- Mix Design
- Test Results for a laboratory trial batch (or batches)
- Variations to Authorised Nominated Mixes
- 9. Placing Steel Reinforcement
- General
- Chair Support
- Tiebars
- Pull-out Testing
- Locations and Compaction of Inserted Tiebars
- Concrete Cover below Sawn Joints
- Dowels
- Testing General
- Protective Coatings
- Bending of Steel Reinforcement
- Welding
- Lapped Splices
- Mechanical Splices
- Storage
- 10. Production and Transport of Concrete
- General
- Production Mixes
- 7-Day Compressive Strength
- Frequency of Moulding of Flexural Test Specimens
- Flexural Strength Test Specimens
- Assessment of 28-day Flexural Strength
- Process Control Charts
- Mixing, Transport, Consistence and Air Content
- Mixing Time
- Mixer Uniformity Testing
- Admixture Addition
- Incorporation during initial batching
- Addition of admixtures to a mobile mixer after Completion of Batching
- Batch Delivery Docket
- Consistence (Slump)
- Minimum Frequency of Routine Testing - Tipper Delivery
- Minimum Frequency of Routine Testing - Mobile Mixer Delivery
- Retempering
- Forming Time
- Air Content of Concrete
- Transport of Mixes for Fixed-form Paving
- 11. Concreting Personnel
- General
- Paving Supervisor
- Paving Crew
- 12. Paving Concrete
- General
- Slipform (Mechanical) Paving
- Fixed-Form (Manual) Paving
- Placing and Paving Operations
- 13. Temperature
- Concrete Temperature
- Air Temperature
- 14. Prevention of Moisture Loss
- 15. Texturing of Surface
- General
- Hessian Drag and Brooming (Initial Texturing)
- Tining
- Texture Testing
- Sawcut Grooves
- 16. Curing
- General
- Materials and Equipment
- Application Rate
- Curing of Other Structural Concrete
- 17. Protection of Work
- Temperature
- Rain
- Anchor Slabs
- Trafficking of Base
- 18. Concrete Paving Trials
- General
- Acceptance of Trial Section
- 19. Joints and Edges
- General
- Joint Cleaning and Sealants
- Transverse Construction Joints
- Transverse Contraction Joints
- Sawcutting
- Cleaning
- Preliminary Sealing
- Temporary Sealing
- Permanent Sealing
- Isolation and Expansion Joints
- Longitudinal Joints
- General
- Condition of Formed Joints and Debonding
- Sawcutting
- Cleaning
- Temporary Sealing
- Permanent Sealing
- Widening of Existing Concrete Base
- Mismatched Joints and Re-entrant Angles
- Outer Edges
- 20. Kerb And Channel
- 21. Special Slabs
- Odd-shaped and Mismatched Slabs
- Anchor Slabs
- 22. Slab Anchors
- Slab Anchors
- 23. Traffic Islands and Medians
- 24. Conformity – Concrete Cracking
- 25. Conformity – Concrete Compaction
- Sub-Lot Delineation
- Conformity for Compaction – Fixed-form Paving
- Conformity for Compaction – Slipform Paving
- Moulding and Testing of Cylinders
- Core Specimens
- Frequency and Location of Coring for Compaction
- Locations of Coring for Compaction
- Repair of Core Holes
- Core Testing for Unit Mass
- Within-core Variability
- 26. Conformity – Concrete Compressive Strength
- Cylinder Strength Testing
- Core Strength Testing
- Assessment of Compressive Strength – Test Cylinders
- Assessment of Compressive Strength – Cores
- Correction Factors for Age and Shape
- 27. Conformity – Geometry and Thickness
- Alignment Tolerances
- Level Survey
- Thickness Assessment
- Conformity for Thickness
- 28. Conformity – Surface Profile
- Transverse Profile
- Longitudinal Profile
- 29. Conformity - Ride Quality
- Testing
- Incentives/Deduction for Pavement Roughness
- 30. Removal and Replacement of Concrete Base
- General
- Jointed Base
- Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP)
- 31. Rectification of Finished Surface and Ride Quality
- 32. Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete
- General
- Steel Fibres
- Fibre Dose Rate
- Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete
- Strength
- Compressive Strength
- 28-day Flexural Strength
- Consistence
- Shrinkage
- Air Content
- Batching, Mixing and Transport
- Charging
- Mixing
- Nominated Concrete Mixes
- Texturing
- Conformity for Flexural Strength
- Test Specimens
- Frequency of Test Specimens
- Flexural Strength
- Conformity for Thickness
- Conformity for Compaction
- Representative Beam Unit Mass
- 33. Testing Procedures
- Mixer Uniformity
- Unit Mass of Cylinders and Cores
- Annexure A: Summary of Hold Points, Witness Points and Records
- Annexure B: Mixer Uniformity Testing
- B1 Mixer Uniformity Testing - General
- B2 Uniformity Testing of Continuous Mixers
- B3 Uniformity Testing of Central Batch Mixers
- B4 Uniformity Testing of Mobile Batch Mixers
- B5 Compliance for Uniformity
- Annexure C: Minimum Frequency of Testing
Related publications
ATS-3110-26
ATS-3145-26
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