MICHIGAN INVESTIGATION OF SOIL-AGGREGATE CUSHIONS AND REINFORCED ASPHALTIC CONCRETE FOR PREVENTING OR REDUCING REFLECTION CRACKING OF RESURFACED PAVEMENTS

IN AN EFFORT TO REDUCE REFLECTION CRACKING OF BITUMINOUS RESURFACING OVER RIGID PAVEMENT, THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE HIGHWAYS HAS INVESTIGATED THE USE OF BOTH SOIL- AGGREGATE CUSHIONS AND CONTINUOUS REINFORCEMENT IN THE BITUMINOUS-CONCRETE RESURFACING LAYER. BECAUSE OF HIGH TRAFFIC VOLUMES, IT IS OFTEN IMPORTANT THAT ANY INTERRUPTION OF VEHICLE FLOW DURING RESURFACING OPERATIONS BE FOR SHORT DURATIONS. DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS, MICHIGAN HAS OBSERVED THE PERFORMANCE OF AN OLD, DISTRESSED HIGHWAY, RESURFACED WITH SOIL-AGGREGATE CUSHIONS OF VARIOUS MATERIALS AS AN INSULATOR BETWEEN THE OLD PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE AND THE NEW BITUMINOUS-CONCRETE MAT. FOR COMPARISON, SOME LENGTHS OF THE PROJECT WERE RESURFACED IN THE CONVENTIONAL MANNER, WITH THE BITUMINOUS MAT CONSTRUCTED DIRECTLY ON THE OLD RIGID PAVEMENT. ADDITIONAL RESURFACING PROJECTS INCORPORATING SOIL-AGGREGATE CUSHIONS HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED THROUGHOUT THE STATE DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS. NO GREAT CONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS WERE ENCOUNTERED AND SOIL-AGGREGATE CUSHIONS CARRIED TRAFFIC WELL IN THE INTERIM BEFORE BITUMINOUS- CONCRETE MATS WERE PLACED. SOIL-AGGREGATE CUSHIONS HAVE PROVED EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING REFLECTION CRACKING, BUT ADDITIONAL RESEARCH IS SUGGESTED TO DETERMINE THE BEST CUSHION MATERIALS. IN 1955, THE DEPARTMENT RESURFACED A RIGID PAVEMENT BY PLACING WIREMEASH FABRIC ON THE OLD SURFACE AND THEN APPLIED THE BITUMINOUS-CONCRETE RESURFACING. CONTROL AREAS WERE ALSO CONSTRUCTED, USING BITUMINOUS-CONCRETE RESURFACING WITHOUT REINFORCEMENT. AFTER ABOUT SIX YEARS SERVICE, IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THIS METHOD OF REINFORCEMENT WAS UNSATISFACTORY BECAUSE (1) REFLECTION CRACKING WAS NOT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED, (2) POTHOLES OCCURRED IN REINFORCED AREAS BUT NOT IN CONVENTIONAL AREAS, AND (3) EXTENSIVE CORROSION OF REINFORCING STEEL OCCURRED EVEN IN APPARENTLY SOUND AREAS OF THE PAVEMENT. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1968/239/239-006.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Composite Pavement Design and presented at the 47th Annual Meeting. 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:
  • Copple, F
  • Oehler, L T
• Publication Date: 1968

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 120-131
• Monograph Title: Design and performance of pavement systems
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 239
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Asphalt concrete; Continuously reinforced concrete pavements; Corrosion; Cushioning materials; Potholes; Reduction (Chemistry); Reflection cracking; Resurfacing; Rigid pavements; Soil aggregates; Traffic volume; Wire mesh
• Geographic Terms: Michigan
• Old TRIS Terms: Continuous reinforcement; Cushioning; Reduction
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00205733
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jan 31 1994 12:00AM