Load bearing capacity analysis of concrete sidewalk system designed to ensure comfort of walking for people with a motor disability

AbstractThe paper looks at a novel structural solution to sidewalks. The proposed system consists of a box element as a substructure and a concrete slab with openings for rainwater infiltration. Such a design will make the sidewalk comfortable for pedestrians with motor impairments, friendly for urban tree root systems and durable. The article provides stress and strain calculations for the variants of the new design. We used the finite element method for the analysis. The results confirm that the proposed variants meet the assumed strength criteria and can therefore be used in the next research steps, that is, permeability tests, rain-water retention simulations, laboratory testing.Highlights Concrete paving slab with environmental approach.Concrete paving slab for people with motor disabilities.The first study implementing FEM method supported by the Barcelona model to analyse stresses and strains in sidewalk pavement.KEYWORDS: Concrete paving slabpermeable concretepedestrians with motor disabilitiesurban treesstress–strain data Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by Narodowe Centrum Badań„ i Rozwoju [grant number Rzeczy są … dla ludzi/0052/2020-00 entitled Pavepro].