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Concrete driveway in Northeast

Concrete driveway in Northeast

Concrete driveway in Northeast

(OP)
Part of a home project involves redoing my driveway...contractor wants to do a concrete driveway but I rarely see anything but blacktop in my town (Upstate New York).  I am concerned about effects of salt and freezing/thawing and general appropriateness of a concrete driveway in my neck of the woods. Ideas?

RE: Concrete driveway in Northeast

For salt/freezing/thawing/spalling be sure to use air entrainment in the mix (probably 6% - 7%).  In the upper midwest (where winter is also severe) there are numerous concrete driveways everywhere.

RE: Concrete driveway in Northeast

Also lots of concrete driveways in Anchorage, Alaska but most are asphalt, probably more due to costs and ability to withstand ground movement due to freeze/thaw of subgrade soils. Like JAE said, air entrainment important otherwise mix is pretty typical. May be difficult to construct on steeper slopes (over 4% to 6% I'd guess).  Also starting to see more concrete driveways with embedded pipes for snowmelting.  This can be done with asphalt driveways also.

RE: Concrete driveway in Northeast

A good high strength mix 30-35 MPa min., 3" slump (very stiff and hard to work but do-able) and for a local contractor, you might push it to 4".  Air 5-7% for 3/4" aggregate, 2" cover to any rebar and preferably epoxy coated bars, sawcut at the right time (about 8 hours after finishing, as soon as the concrete is hard enough to sawcut), and a couple of coats of silane/siloxane sealer should give you an A1 pad...

RE: Concrete driveway in Northeast

Forgot to add the panel size.  Sawcut into approximately 15'x15' squares for a 6" slab. and make sure that the granular base is well and properly compacted.

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