DESIGN OF RIGID PAVEMENT JOINT SPACING FOR LOW VOLUME ROADS

Abstract

During 'the last decade, the government has given great emphasis on development of the road sector. The government also promoted the construction of concrete roads in rural areas. The major reason for this is that the rural communities can manage the construction of concrete roads as it does not require special equipments and skilled work force. Therefore the local contractors within the areas can handle the projects with the help of villagers. However, recently constructed concrete roads are having lot of defects due to poor construction. Inadequate knowledge on concrete as a road paving material is the major reason for poor construction of concrete roads in many rural areas. Concrete is a stiff material compared to the asphalt or macadam. The higher stiffness has both benefits and drawbacks. Concrete changes the volume with the thermal effect from surrounding. Effective precautions should be taken to avoid the destruction from this volume reduction. This research study was based on the simulation of volume changes and corresponding stress changes in concrete with thermal effects from surrounding. Daily variation of temperature in a slab was integrated in a finite element 'model. The finite element model was verified using a prototype slab. The verified model used to obtain the corresponding length change of the slab panel. Length change due to shrinkage of concrete pavement was obtained using the information given in BS 8110. Loa~ transfer through the propagated crack under pre-defined weaker plane was investigated in this study. The load transfer efficiency (LTE) with respect to crack opening was measured to develop a relationship between LTE and crack width. Maximum crack opening to be maintained to satisfy the specified load transfer efficiency was established based on the experimental results. The suitable joint spacing was figure out by the volume reduction of the concrete and load transfer efficiency requirement as the outcome of the research.