Description
This guide provides a perspective on a balanced combination of pavement thickness, drainage, and sub-base or subgrade materials to achieve an acceptable pavement system for streets and local roads. Such concrete pavements designed for low volumes of traffic (typically less than 100 trucks per day, one way) have historically provided satisfactory performance when proper support and drainage conditions exist. Recommendations are presented for designing a concrete pavement system for a low volume of traffic and associated joint pattern based upon limiting the stresses in the concrete or, in the case of reinforced slabs, maintaining the cracks in a tightly closed condition. Details for designing the distributed reinforcing steel and the load transfer devices are given, if required. The thickness design of low-volume concrete pavements is based on the principles developed by the Portland Cement Association and others for analyzing an elastic slab over a dense liquid subgrade, as modified by field observations and extended to include fatigue concepts.
Keywords: dowel; flexural strength; joint; pavement; portland cement; quality control; reinforced concrete; slab-on-grade; slipform; subbase; tie bar; welded wire fabric.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1—General
1.1—Introduction
1.2—Scope
1.3—Background
1.4—Definitions
Chapter 2—Pavement material requirements
2.1—Support conditions
2.1.1—Subgrade support
2.1.2—Subbase properties
2.2—Properties of concrete paving mixtures
2.2.1—Strength
2.2.2—Durability
2.2.3—Workability
2.2.4—Economy
2.2.5—Distributed and joint reinforcement
Chapter 3—Pavement thickness design
3.1—Basis of design
3.2—Traffic
3.2.1—Street classification and traffic
3.3—Thickness determination
3.4—Economic factors
Chapter 4—Pavement jointing
4.1—Slab length and related design factors
4.1.1—Load transfer
4.1.1.1—Aggregate interlock
4.1.1.2—Doweled joints
4.1.1.3—Stabilized subgrades or subbases
4.2—Transverse joints
4.2.1—Transverse contraction joints
4.2.2—Transverse construction joints
4.3—Longitudinal joints
4.4—Isolation joints and expansion joints
4.4.1—Isolation joints
4.4.2—Expansion joints
4.5—Slab reinforcement
4.6—Irregular panels
4.7—Contraction joint sealants
4.7.1—Low-modulus silicone sealants
4.7.2—Polymer sealants
4.7.3—Compression sealants
4.7.4—Hot-applied, field-molded sealants
4.7.5—Cold-applied, field-molded sealants
Chapter 5—Summary
Chapter 6—References
6.1—Referenced standards and reports
6.2—Cited references
Appendix A—Pavement thickness design concepts
A.1—Load stresses and fatigue calculations
Appendix B—
B.1—Introduction
B.2—Soil classification
B.3—Subgrade soils
B.4—Expansive soils
B.5—Frost action
B.6—Pumping
Appendix C