EXPERIMENTS WITH CONTINUOUS REINFORCEMENT IN CONCRETE PAVEMENTS

IN THE FALL OF 1938, CONTINUOUSLY REINFORCED SECTIONS, RANGING FROM 20 TO 1,310 FEET IN LENGTH, WERE CONSTRUCTED NEAR STILESVILLE, INDIANA, ON US ROUTE 40 TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF VARYING AMOUNTS OF LONGITUDINAL STEEL IN VARIOUS SECTION LENGTHS. THE SECTION BEHAVIOR DURING THE FIRST 10 YEARS OF SERVICE LIFE CONCLUSIVELY SHOWS THAT CONTINUOUS REINFORCEMENT PREVENTS THE OPENING OF TRANSVERSE CRACKS IN CONCRETE PAVEMENTS. IN THE LONG, HEAVILY REINFORCED SECTIONS MANY FINE CRACKS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THE CENTRAL REGION. THESE CRACKS HAVE NOT OPENED AND HAVE RAVELED ONLY SLIGHTLY WITH TRAFFIC AND EXPOSURE, A CONDITION REQUIRING NO MAINTENANCE. THE SECTIONS HAVE REMAINED STRONG, DURABLE STRUCTURAL UNITS. THE CONCRETE APPEARS TO BE SOUND THROUGHOUT WITH NO SPALLING OR LONGITUDINAL CRACKING ABOVE THE BARS. IN FACT, THE MANNER IN WHICH THE STEEL HAS HELD CLOSED ALL CRACKS, IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN CONDUCIVE TO DISTRIBUTED INTERFACIAL PRESSURE AT THE CRACKS WHICH SHOULD TEND TO MINIMIZE DAMAGE TO THE CONCRETE FROM CONCENTRATIONS OF PRESSURE SUCH AS SOMETIMES DEVELOP AT CRACKS IN PLAIN CONCRETE PAVEMENTS. PUMPING HAS DEVELOPED AT MANY TRANSVERSE JOINTS BUR, WITH TWO EXCEPTIONS, HAS NOT BEEN OBSERVED AT ANY OF THE TRANSVERSE CRACKS. THIS INDICATES THAT A CONCRETE PAVEMENT WITHOUT TRANSVERSE JOINTS AND CONTAINING ADEQUATE LONGITUDINAL REINFORCEMENT IS NOT NEARLY SO SUSCEPTIBLE TO PUMPING AS OTHER PAVEMENT DESIGNS. IN SPITE OF TRANSVERSE CRACKS DEVELOPING IN THE LONG SECTIONS, THE PAVEMENTS RIDING QUALITY REMAINS EXCELLENT AND THE PAVEMENT ITSELF IS PROTECTED FROM DAMAGING IMPACT FORCES SUCH AS TEND TO DEVELOP WHERE THE SURFACE ALINEMENT IS NOT MAINTAINED. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/29/29-003.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 29, pp 44-83, 19 FIG, TABS, 7 PHOT. 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:
  • Cashell, H D
  • Benham, S W
  • Woolley, W R
  • Willey, W E
• Publication Date: 1950

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 13-16, 1949.
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 29
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Concrete pavements; Continuously reinforced concrete pavements; Pumps; Riding qualities; Service life; Steel; Transverse cracking; Transverse joints
• Old TRIS Terms: Continuous reinforcement
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00205912
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 25 1971 12:00AM