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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

A TEN-YEAR REPORT ON THE ILLINOIS CONTINUOUSLY-REINFORCED PAVEMENT

IN THE FALL OF 1947 AND THE SPRING OF 1948 THE ILLINOIS DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS CONSTRUCTED ON US 40 AN EXPERIMENTAL CONTINUOUSLY-REINFORCED PAVEMENT CONSISTING OF EIGHT TEST SECTIONS RANGING IN LENGTH FROM 3,500 TO 4,230 FT. FOUR SECTIONS WERE UNIFORM 7-INCH PAVEMENT AND FOUR WERE UNIFORM 8-INCH PAVEMENT. THE PAVEMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED DIRECTLY ON NATURAL SUBGRADE, 90 PERCENT OF WHICH WAS COMPOSED OF SOILS CLASSIFIED AS POTENTIALLY PUMPING TYPES. LONGITUDINAL STEEL AMOUNTING TO 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, AND 1.0 PERCENT OF THE GROSS CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA OF THE PAVEMENT WAS USED WITH EACH PAVEMENT THICKNESS. THE LONGITUDINAL REINFORCEMENT CONSISTS OF ROUND DEFORMED RAIL-STEEL BARS. NUMBER 3 ROUND DEFORMED INTERMEDIATE GRADE, BILLET-STEEL BARS AT 12-INCH CENTERS IN ONE-HALF OF EACH SECTION AND AT 18-INCH CENTERS IN THE OTHER HALF WERE USED AS TRANSVERSE REINFORCEMENT. THE PAVEMENT HAS BEEN CAREFULLY OBSERVED AND DETAILED SURVEYS TO DETERMINE ITS BEHAVIOR AND CONDITION HAVE BEEN MADE PERIODICALLY. THIS REPORT DESCRIBES THE BEHAVIOR AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PAVEMENT DURING THE 10-YEAR PERIOD. THE BEHAVIOR OF THE PAVEMENT, PARTICULARLY OF THE MORE LIGHTLY REINFORCED SECTIONS, HAS BEEN BEYOND EXPECTATIONS. ALL OF THE TEST SECTIONS HAVE GIVEN GOOD PERFORMANCE. THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW STRUCTURAL FAILURES IN THE LIGHTER REINFORCED SECTIONS, IN WHICH LOCAL CONDITIONS, SUCH AS POOR SUBGRADE, HAVE BEEN THE PRIMARY FACTORS. PUMPING HAS BEEN RESTRICTED MAINLY TO THE 4-INCH EXPANSION JOINTS AND THE CONSTRUCTION JOINTS, WHICH ARE NOTABLY POINTS OF WEAKNESS. ALL TEST SECTIONS DEVELOPED LARGE NUMBERS OF TRANSVERSE CRACKS, THE FREQUENCY BEING PROPORTIONAL TO THE AMOUNT OF LONGITUDINAL STEEL. CRACK DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN PROGRESSIVE WITH TIME, BUT AT A DECREASING RATE. CRACK WIDTHS ARE INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE AMOUNT OF LONGITUDINAL STEEL, BUT IN MOST CASES THE CRACKS HAVE REMAINED NARROW, INDICATING THAT THE STEEL IS EFFECTIVE IN HOLDING ADJACENT SLABS TOGETHER. ONLY MODERATE RAVELLING HAS OCCURRED AT TRANSVERSE CRACKS AND THERE HAS BEEN ALMOST NO FAULTING ACROSS CRACKS. THE PAVEMENT IS NOTICEABLY SMOOTH RIDING, WHICH IS FURTHER INDICATED BY A RECENT ROUGHOMETER TEST THAT GAVE AN AVERAGE READING OF LESS THAN 72 INCH PER MILE. THERE HAS BEEN A PROGRESSIVE INCREASE IN THE LENGTH OF ALL TEST SECTIONS, RESULTING IN FULL CLOSURE OF THE 4-INCH EXPANSION JOINTS. AT SEVERAL OF THESE JOINTS HIGH LOCALIZED COMPRESSIVE STRESSES, PROBABLY CAUSED BY IRREGULAR INTERFACES, HAVE RESULTED IN RATHER LARGE SURFACE SPALLS THAT HAVE REQUIRED SOME MAINTENANCE. THESE REPAIRS, LIMITED AMOUNTS OF UNDERSEALING TO REDUCE PUMPING AT EXPANSION JOINTS AND CONSTRUCTION JOINTS, AND REPAIRS OF A FEW LOCAL STRUCTURAL FAILURES, ACCOUNT FOR THE ONLY SLAB MAINTENANCE PERFORMED DURING THE 10-YEAR PERIOD. /AUTHOR/

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  • Supplemental Notes:
    • No 214, pp 22-40, 10 FIG, 5 TAB, 6 REF 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:
    • Lindsay, J D
  • Publication Date: 1959

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Pagination: 19p
  • Monograph Title: Continuous steel reinforcement for experimental concrete pavements
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00206972
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Nov 4 1994 12:00AM