A computer program, medconp (mechanistic design of concrete pavement) was developed to design and evaluate jointed concrete pavements. This procedure uses a mechanistic approach and considers important factors (such as the thermal gradient in the concrete slab and thedaily and hourly traffic load distribution) that have not been considered in the past. Other design factors considered include the slablength, elastic modulus, flexural strength of concrete, subgrade modulus, traffic growth rate, proportioning of traffic in multiple lanes, and design life. Fatigue theory and miner's rule are used to determine required slab thickness for designing a new pavement and evaluating the structural adequacy of an existing pavement. A design example is also given in this paper to evaluate the suitability of the design procedure used in the medconp program. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1227, Rigid and flexible pavement design and analysis: unbound granular materials, tire pressures, backcalculation, and design methods.
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