Newer continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRCP) in South Dakota have exhibited undesirable levels and types of transverse cracking. This poor performance was not expected under the current recommended design practices. Research was undertaken to identify design, construction and material issues that may be contributing to the undesirable cracking. After preliminary surveys of existing projects and analysis of the available Long Term Pavement Performance CRCP data, a systematic construction program was initiated whereby changes in design and materials were incorporated and monitored for any beneficial effects. Beneficial changes were incorporated into projects scheduled for construction the following year and new parameters modified to understand how critical the effects on the cracking behavior any given parameter was with minimum ambiguity. The preliminary results are a series of recommended changes in design, construction and materials yielding much more normal and desirable cracking patterns.
Abstract