FIRST-YEAR PERFORMANCE REPORT ON CONTINUOUSLY-REINFORCED CONCRETE PAVEMENTS IN PENNSYLVANIA

EXTENSIVE MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENTATION HAS BEEN UTILIZED TO MEASURE AND EVALUATE THE PERFORMANCE OF TWO CONTINUOUSLY-REINFORCED CONCRETE HIGHWAYS IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. THE FIRST OF THESE PAVEMENTS WAS CONSTRUCTED ON US 111 NEAR YORK IN THE FALL OF 1956. A REPORT COVERING THE CONSTRUCTION DETAILS AND EARLY BEHAVIOR OF THIS PAVEMENT WAS PRESENTED AT THE 1957 HIGHWAY RESEARCH BOARD MEETING. THIS HIGHWAY HAS REMAINED CLOSED TO TRAFFIC THROUGHOUT A COMPLETE YEAR OF TEMPERATURE CYCLING IN EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS, ALLOWING OBSERVATION OF ITS PERFORMANCE WITHOUT THE INFLUENCE OF HEAVY WHEEL LOADS. THE SECOND PAVEMENT, ON US 22 NEAR HAMBURG, WAS CONSTRUCTED IN THE SPRING OF 1957. THE PAVEMENT THICKNESS AND TYPE OF REINFORCEMENT WERE VARIED, BUT THE CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA OF STEEL WAS KEPT CONSTANT. NUMEROUS ELECTRICAL GAUGES WERE INSTALLED IN THE PAVEMENT AT SELECTED LOCATIONS TO PERMIT A CAREFUL INVESTIGATION OF THE PHENOMENA ASSOCIATED WITH THE FORMATION OF TRANSVERSE CRACKS. A CONTINUOUS RECORDING WAS MADE OF THE STRAINS IN THE STEEL REINFORCING, AND ALSO IN THE CONCRETE, DURING THE FORMATION OF ONE OF THESE CRACKS. THIS REPORT DESCRIBES THE INSTRUMENTATION USED AND PRESENTS THE INFORMATION OBTAINED DURING A YEAR OF OBSERVATIONS. AN EFFORT IS MADE TO EVALUATE THIS INFORMATION AND EXPLAIN SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT OCCUR DURING THE EARLY LIFE OF A CONTINUOUSLY-REINFORCED CONCRETE PAVEMENT. /AUTHOR/