Effect of Construction Environment on JPCP Performance

Some properties of newly paved Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements (JPCP) are known to influence the long-term performance. The traditional empirical design procedures for JPCP were unable to take into account most of these factors. However, the new Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) accounts for climatic conditions, local materials, selected construction practices, and actual highway traffic distribution. In this study, performance (in terms of International Roughness Index (IRI), faulting, and percent slab cracked) of six typical JPCP pavements in Kansas corresponding to alternative inputs of Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) strength development, PCC shrinkage, and "zero-stress" temperature has been evaluated using MEPDG. The results show that predicted JPCP roughness (IRI) and faulting by MEPDG are not very sensitive to the PCC strength. However, slab cracking decreases with higher PCC strength. In general, PCC shrinkage does not affect predicted IRI. Higher shrinkage strain results in higher faulting. Long term cracking appears to be fairly insensitive to the shrinkage strain. MEPDG-predicted IRI and percent slabs cracked are fairly insensitive to the zero-stress temperature but the faulting is severely affected except on a JPCP pavement section with widened lane and tied PCC shoulder. Percent slab cracked highly depends on the PCC slab thickness. April and October are the best months for JPCP construction (paving) in Kansas.