PRESTRESSED CONCRETE HIGHWAY PAVEMENT AT DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: RESEARCH PROGRESS REPORT TO ONE HUNDRED DAYS

THIS FIRST PRESTRESSED 24-FOOT HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN THE U.S.A. HAS 6-INCH SLABS FROM 400 TO 760 FEET LONG BETWEEN TRANSVERSE STEEL BULKHEAD DOWELED JOINTS. TWELVE 1/2-INCH 7-WIRE STRANDS WERE POST-TENSIONED AT BOTH ENDS OF EACH SLAB TO 29,000 POUNDS IN THREE STEPS. THE 200-PSI LONGITUDINAL PRESTRESS PREVENTED TRANSVERSE CRACKS AT EARLY AGE. A DOUBLE LAYER OF POLYETHYLENE ON THE CEMENT-TREATED BASE REDUCED FRICTION. STUDIES OF SLAB MOVEMENTS GAVE FRICTION COEFFICIENTS OF ABOUT 0.5 FOR THE DAILY FRICTIONAL RESTRAINT STRESSES. IN THREE SLABS, THE STRANDS WERE IN STEEL TUBING, GROUTED AFTER PRESTRESSING; IN THREE, THE PREFABRICATED TENDONS WERE GREASED AND PLASTIC ENCASED. HAVING THE STRANDS ONE-HALF INCH BELOW MID-DEPTH PREVENTED SLAB LIFT AT THE ENDS. STRAND FRICTION WAS 16 POUNDS PER FOOT IN STEEL TUBING, BUT 40 POUNDS IN THE PLASTIC. AT MID-LENGTH OF THE 760-FOOT SLAB, STRAND TENSION WAS UNDER 14,000 POUNDS, AND THE 95-PSI PRESTRESS WAS TOO LOW TO PREVENT TENSION DURING CONTRACTION. A CRACK OPENED NEAR MID-LENGTH DURING A 60-DEGREE TEMPERATURE DROP. CONTROLLED TESTS WITH 10- AND 17-TON AXLE LOADS BEFORE OPENING THE ROAD REVEALED FOUNDATION CONSOLIDATIONS UNDER INITIAL AXLE LOADS. THE HIGHEST LOAD STRESSES WERE UNDER WHEELS AT PAVEMENT AND JOINT EDGES.

• Corporate Authors:

  Federal Highway Administration

  Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, 6300 Georgetown Pike
  McLean, VA  United States  22101
• Authors:
  • Friberg, B F
  • Pasko, T J
• Publication Date: 1973-8

Media Info

• Pagination: 119 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airport runways; Coefficient of friction; Deflection; Ethylene resins; Foundations; Grouting; Joints; Loads; Pavement cracking; Pavement design; Pavements; Posttensioning; Prestressed concrete; Slabs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Polyethylene
• Old TRIS Terms: Bulkheads; Foundation loading; Joint; Pavement deflection; Strands
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00206521
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-RD-72- 29 Intrm Rpt., FCP 25E3-014
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Apr 20 1976 12:00AM