A lot of contractors in Kamloops make the same mistake. They pour a thick concrete slab over native silt and call it a day. Then winter hits. The freeze-thaw cycle in the Thompson Valley destroys the subgrade within two seasons. We have seen 12-inch reinforced slabs crack right down the middle because the base preparation ignored local soil behavior. Rigid pavement design here requires more than a standard mix. You need a subbase that drains, a concrete specification that handles temperature swings from -20 °C to 40 °C, and joint detailing that prevents spalling. Our team combines geotechnical investigation with structural pavement engineering. Before finalizing the slab thickness, we often run a plate load test to verify the modulus of the compacted subgrade directly on site. This gives us a real stiffness value. No guesswork. The pavement section then gets sized for the actual truck loads your facility will see, not a generic highway standard.
A rigid pavement in Kamloops lives or dies by its subbase drainage and air-entrained concrete mix. Ignore the freeze-thaw reality and you will replace the slab in three years.
