Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM) Best Practices for Concrete Pavements

The purpose of this tech brief is to describe common supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), highlight their benefits and drawbacks when used in concrete for highway applications, and discuss recent trends that may affect the use of SCMs during the foreseeable future.
State highway agencies (SHAs) and others charged with construction and maintenance of roads and bridges expect one key property from concrete: durability. Meanwhile, service demands placed on concrete structures continue to increase, along with expectations for reduced environmental impact and lower initial and lifecycle costs. To produce concrete mixtures that satisfy these demands, engineers increasingly turn to SCMs as part of the solution.