PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF UTAH'S CONCRETE PAVEMENT JOINT SEALS

During the summer of 1972, Utah experienced the first major pavement distress in its concrete pavement Interstate highways in the form of pavement blowups. Subsequent investigation indicated that these resulted from poor construction and repair, which allowed contraction joints to be filled with incompressibles. Growing concern about more widespread pavement distress led to additional visual inspection and joint corings. Six sections were chosen, ranging in age from 6 months to 10 years, from which cores were taken, and it was found that all but the most recently sealed joints had seal failures, even in those that were only 1 1/2 years old. When it was determined that seal failure was so common, the designs were reviewed, and it was found that the present seals are overstressed. It was recommended that either a 7/16-in. preformed seal be installed in a 1/4-in.-seal reservoir or a PVC hot-pour seal in a 3/8-in.-2wide joint be used instead of the present design. Other observations showed that the longitudinal joint at the pavement edge was in poor condition and needed resealing but that the longitudinal centerline joint was in good condition.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1975/535/535-004.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=PERFORMANCE+EVALUATION+OF+UTAH'S+CONCRETE+PAVEMENT+JOINT+SEALS&author=J.+McBride&author=M.+Decker&publication_year=1975
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Sealants and Fillers for Joints and Cracks. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • McBride, Joseph C
  • Decker, Miles S
• Discussers:
  • Knoblock Jr, George C
• Conference:
  • 54th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia
  • Date: 1975-1-13 to 1975-1-17
• Publication Date: 1975

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 35-50
• Monograph Title: Concrete pavement construction and joints and loader-truck production studies
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 535
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Concrete pavements; Contraction joints; Defects; Design; Evaluation; Failure; Joint sealers; Pavement distress; Pavement performance; Pavements; Paving; Polyvinyl chloride; Preforming
• Old TRIS Terms: Overstressed zones
• Subject Areas: Construction; Design; Highways; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00099909
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309023866
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Nov 5 1975 12:00AM