Field Investigations of Cracking on Concrete Pavements
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 21, Issue 6
Abstract
This paper presents the results of several investigations to identify the underlying causes of longitudinal cracking problems in Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement. Longitudinal cracking is not intended and detrimental to the long-term performance of PCC pavement. Longitudinal cracking problems in five projects were thoroughly investigated and the findings indicate that longitudinal cracking was caused by: (1) late or shallow saw cutting of longitudinal joints; (2) inadequate base support under the concrete slab; and (3) the use of high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) aggregates. When the longitudinal cracks were caused by late or shallow saw cutting of longitudinal joints, cracks developed at a very early stage. However, when there was adequate base support, the longitudinal cracks remained relatively tight even after decades of truck trafficking. Another cause of longitudinal cracking was inadequate base support, and cracking due to this mechanism normally progressed to rather wide cracks. Some cracks were as wide as . Evaluations of base support by dynamic cone penetrometer in areas where longitudinal cracks were observed indicate quite weak subbase in both full-depth repaired areas and surrounding areas. This implies that the current requirements for the subbase preparation for the full-depth repair are not adequate. Another cause of longitudinal cracking was due to the use of high CTE aggregate in concrete. Large volume changes in concrete when coarse aggregate with high CTE is used could cause excessive stresses in concrete and result in longitudinal cracking. To prevent longitudinal cracking, attention should be exercised to the selection of concrete materials (concrete with low CTE) and the quality of the construction (timely and sufficient saw cutting and proper selection and compaction of subbase material).
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Acknowledgments
The support and assistance from John Bilyeu, Mike Murphy, Abbas Mehdibeigi, Johnny Perez, John Pitre, and Steve Sell are much appreciated.
References
Chen, D.-H., Lin, D.-F., Liau, P.-H., and Bilyeu, J. (2005). “Developing a correlation between dynamic cone penetrometer data and pavement layer moduli.” Geotech. Test. J., 28(1), 42–49.
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McCullough, B. F., Zollinger, D. G., and Dossey, T. (1998). “Evaluation of the performance of Texas pavements made with different coarse aggregates.” Research Rep. No. 3925-1, Center for Transportation Research, The Univ. of Texas at Austin, Tex.
Transportation Research Board (TRB). (2006). “Control of cracking in concrete: State of the art.” Transportation Research Circular No. E-C107, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Won, M. (2005). “Improvements of testing procedures for concrete coefficient of thermal expansion.” Transportation Research Record. 1919, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 23–28.
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© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 3, 2006
Accepted: Apr 10, 2007
Published online: Dec 1, 2007
Published in print: Dec 2007
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