Premature Failure of Concrete Patching: Reasons and Resolutions

The performance of concrete patches in continuously reinforced concrete pavement in Virginia varies from less than 1 year to many years. The purpose of this study was to determine the causes of premature repair failure in continuously reinforced concrete pavement. Four pavement sections were monitored for patching operations. Mixture designs had high cementitious material contents. The patches were typically constructed with a short lane closure time, often at night, with only about 5 to 8 hours of cure time before opening of the roadway to traffic. The strengths were determined using the temperature matched curing system. The observations and testing indicated that the two most significant causes for premature failure were (1) the use of high early strength concrete mixtures with high cement contents that cause excessive thermal and shrinkage cracking, and (2) failure to assess the overall pavement condition, which could have led to an overlay with structural improvement rather than just patching. Some other areas of concern were cutting of the continuous reinforcement, reestablishing the continuity of the reinforcement in the patch, damaging concrete adjacent to the patch during concrete removal, poor concreting practice with respect to proper consolidation of the concrete near the joint, and opening to traffic before adequate concrete strength was achieved. Based on these findings, the study recommended revisions to future special provisions for concrete patching and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Materials Division Manual of Instructions, Chapter 6.

• Record URL:
  http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/19-R14.pdf
• 
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/40036
• Corporate Authors:

  Virginia Transportation Research Council

  530 Edgemont Road
  Charlottesville, VA  United States  22903

  Virginia Department of Transportation

  1401 East Broad Street
  Richmond, VA  United States  23219

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Sprinkel, Michael M
  • Hossain, M Shabbir
  • Ozyildirim, Celik
• Publication Date: 2019-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 38p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cement content; Continuously reinforced concrete pavements; Patching; Recommendations; Thermal degradation
• Uncontrolled Terms: High early strength concrete; Premature failure; Shrinkage cracking
• Geographic Terms: Virginia
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01701700
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/VTRC 19-R14, VTRC 19-R14
• Contract Numbers: 104441
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Apr 9 2019 8:23PM