WIRE MESH REINFORCEMENT IN BITUMINOUS RESURFACING

THE PROBLEM OF WHAT TO DO ABOUT REFLECTION CRACKS OCCURRING IN BITUMINOUS RESURFACING BLANKETS PLACED OVER OLD PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE PAVEMENTS HAS BEEN A SUBJECT OF MUCH CONCERN AND PAVING ENGINEERS HAVE LONG BEEN SEEKING A SATISFACTORY SOLUTION. A NUMBER OF METHODS HAVE BEEN USED IN AN ATTEMPT TO PREVENT OR RETARD THIS TYPE OF CRACKING. SUBSEALING OR MUDJACKING OF THE OLD CONCRETE SLABS HAS BEEN TRIED, BUT HAS NOT ELIMINATED THE TROUBLE. IN MANY CASES THE OLD CONCRETE HAS BEEN COVERED WITH A CUSHION COURSE OF GRANULAR MATERIAL OF SUBSTANTIAL THICKNESS BEFORE PLACING THE NEW SURFACING. IN OTHER INSTANCES, THE THICKNESS OF THE NEW SURFACING HAS BEEN INCREASED IN AN ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE OR MINIMIZE THIS CRACKING. A MORE RECENT AND PROMISING METHOD INVOLVES THE USE OF SOME FORM OF WIRE MESH, LAID DIRECTLY ON THE EXISTING CONCRETE SURFACE AND COVERED BY A BITUMINOUS SURFACING. THIS PAPER DESCRIBES AN EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT IN WHICH THE CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS IN 1954 PLACED SEVERAL TEST SECTIONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPARING THE RELATIVE MERITS OF VARIOUS TYPES OF WIRE MESH. AN OLD EXISTING CONCRETE PAVEMENT SUBJECTED TO HEAVY TRUCK TRAFFIC ON HIGHWAY US 40 AND CONSTRUCTED IN 1935 WAS SELECTED FOR THE TEST SITE. THE PAVEMENT WAS BADLY CRACKED, HAD UNDERGONE EXTENSIVE PATCHING AND WAS TO BE COVERED WITH A 4 INCH CONTACT BLANKET OF PLANT MIXED SURFACING. A TOTAL OF EIGHT EXPERIMENTAL SECTIONS WERE PLACED, INCORPORATING FOUR TYPES OF EXPANDED METAL MESH, TWO TYPES OF SO-CALLED BITUMINOUS ROAD MESH AND TWO TYPES OF WELDED WIRE FABRIC. THE VARIOUS EXPERIMENTAL SECTIONS WERE SEPARATED BY CONTROL SECTIONS CONTAINING NO WIRE MESH THUS PERMITTING A DIRECT AND CLOSE COMPARISON BETWEEN REINFORCED AND NONREINFORCED SECTIONS. COST COMPARISONS INDICATE THE WELDED WIRE MESH TO BE THE LEAST EXPENSIVE OF THE VARIOUS TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT USED. THE FINAL ANSWER AS TO THE ECONOMICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR PLACING WIRE MESH WILL DEPEND UPON THE AMOUNT OF RETARDATION OF CRACKING OR PROLONGED LIFE OF THE SURFACING WITH THE VARIOUS TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT WHEN COMPARED TO THE CONTROL SECTIONS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/131/131-001.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 131, pp 1-18, 3 TAB, 28 FIG 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:
  • Zube, Ernest
• Publication Date: 1956

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: 18p
• Monograph Title: Widening and resurfacing with bituminous concrete
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 131
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bituminous materials; Cushioning materials; Economics; Granular materials; Material reinforcement; Mudjacking; Pavements; Portland cement concrete; Reflection cracking; Resurfacing; Surface treating; Test sections; Thickness; Wire mesh
• Old TRIS Terms: Bituminous surfacing; Cushioning; Existing pavements; Thickness design
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218417
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-023 499
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 21 1994 12:00AM