Application of Foamed Concrete in Road Engineering

Foamed concrete exhibits excellent characteristics including light weight, high strength, energy saving, waste utilizing, heat preservation, noise insulation as well as the good absorbability of impacting energy, which can be used in infrastructure facilities such as high-grade highway and subway. Backfilling load at the construction of high embankment, subway tunnel, and underground continual channel and so on can be reduced by the application of this new material. At the same time, the foundation stress can be reduced; foundation uneven settlement can be decreased. Then the problem of bumping at bridge-head of soft base embankment and road widening can be solved effectively, the stability and security coefficient of road engineering is increased. Meanwhile, project and maintenance costs are reduced, the social efficiency is improved. In this paper, physical mechanics performance, material composition and production process of foamed concrete are introduced, and the development of foamed concrete is reviewed. Through analyzing the application examples domestic and foreign, the application status of foamed concrete in road engineering is summarized. Based on the problems existing in foamed concrete application, the future of this new material is prospected.