Roller-Compacted Concrete for Pavements: A Critical Review of Its Structural Design, Construction, Monitoring, and Applications

Abstract

Roller-compacted concrete (RCC) is a promising alternative to conventional pavement systems due to its structural capacity, rapid construction, and potential for sustainable performance. Nevertheless, its global adoption remains limited by the absence of standardized design protocols, variability in construction practices, and insufficient long-term performance assessments. This study provides a comprehensive and critical review of 125 peer-reviewed publications published between 1967 and 2025, proposing a multi-dimensional integration framework that connects material fundamentals, structural design principles, construction practices, in-service monitoring strategies, and documented applications within a unified analytical perspective. Unlike earlier reviews that addressed these aspects separately, this study explicitly articulates their interdependencies and identifies a fragmented global implementation of RCC monitoring practices, with limited integration of structural, functional, and instrumentation-based assessments across life-cycle stages. The findings consolidate a structured reference framework that supports more consistent, data-driven, and sustainability-oriented use of RCC pavements in contemporary infrastructure projects.