TRANSVERSE JOINTS IN THE DESIGN OF HEAVY DUTY CONCRETE PAVEMENTS

TRANSVERSE JOINTS, CRACKS AND PAVEMENT DESIGN ARE DISCUSSED RELTIVE TO CONCRETE PAVEMENT ABILITY TO SUSTAIN THE AMOUNT OF HEAVY TRAFFIC USING THE NEW JERSEY STATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM. CONCLUSIONS INCLUDE: (1) HEAVY DUTY PAVEMENTS REQUIRE DESIGNS THAT PROVIDE LOAD DISTRIBUTION AT ALL JOINTS AND CRACKS; (2) JOINT STRUCTURES SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO REDUCE DOWEL RESTRAINT TO THE LOWEST PRACTICAL LIMIT; (3) EARTH INFILTRATION IN OPEN JOINTS AND CRACKS LEADS TO SPALLING, BLOW-UPS, AND DESTRUCTION OF LOAD TRANSFER OFTEN ACCELERATED BY PAVEMENT GROWTH; (4) THE USE OF PRECOMPRESSED WOOD SHOULD BE TRIED EXTENSIVELY FOR JOINT FILLERS; AND (5) THE CONTROLLED COMPRESSION THEORY OF CONCRETE PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION, IN WHICH PAVEMENTS ARE KEPT UNDER COMPRESSION AT ALL TIMES BY THE USE OF SPRING DOWELLED JOINT STRUCTURES, IS RECOMMENDED. /AUTHOR/