DESIGN OF PRESTRESSED PCC OVERLAYS ON RIGID PAVEMENTS

Abstract

This paper presents the procedure followed to determine the necessary thickness and prestress level of the prestressed section in Cooke County. The experimental section in Cooke County is located on southbound IH-35. between stations 728 + 10 and 781 + 50. The present pavement structure is a+ 4 inch of existing ACP on a 10 inch jointed concrete pavement of 38 foot width and 20 foot joint spacing. The project consists of removing the existing ACP, patching the jointed pavement where necessary, sealing and overlaying with approximately 2 inches of new ACP and placing the prestressed concrete pavement on top. Figure 1 presents a sectional view of the existing pavement structure. The JCP section in Cooke County was opened to traffic for the first time in 1949. Eventually, some parts of the section had to be overlaid with asphaltic concrete for general improvement of ride quality, pavement performance and skid resistance. The number of 18k ESAL accumulated since time of construction till 1984 and the projected repetitions for the next 20 years is presented in Table 1. The traffic report as obtained from the Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation is enclosed in Appendix A.