TEN YEARS EXPERIENCE WITH EXPERIMENTAL CONCRETE PAVEMENT SECTIONS IN ONTARIO

Abstract

In 1982, four experimental sections of rigid pavement were constructed on Highway 3, southeast of Windsor, to assess the comparative performance and overall serviceability of various innovative concepts in concrete pavement design. The demonstration project was evaluated and reported on in 1985 and 1988 after three and six years of service, and most recently in 1992 after ten years of service. The concrete pavement consisted of four plain jointed undowelled concrete pavement (JPCP) sections varying in design and length. The performance of the pavement sections is described in terms of load transfer and centre slab deflections based on Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) testing, roughness, skid resistance, joint movement and a crack survey. Observations of noise levels, traffic volumes, and surface texture are discussed. A brief summary of the design and construction details, plus the performance results of an ongoing ten year monitoring program are documented in this paper. Conclusions based on ten years of performance results indicate the higher levels of serviceability achieved with the free draining base section and full depth section.