Effect of Dowel-Bar Misalignment across Concrete Pavement Joints

The subject of joints in concrete pavements, to provide for expansion and contraction, and the means of transferring load across joints, is of particular interest to those engaged in highway construction. Common dowel bars, passing through the joint and embedded in the two adjacent slabs, have long been used for this purpose. The importance of installing the bars correctly, that is, perpendicular to the cross-section of the pavement, will be recognized since dowels, incorrectly installed, will not slip freely in the concrete. This paper describes an investigation to determine the accuracy with which road-building contractors were installing dowel bars, and another investigation which was conducted to determine, by experiment, the degree of precision necessary to assure satisfactory functioning of joints.