INTRODUCTION

The long term performance of rigid pavement

depends not only on proper pavement design and
materials selection, but on good Construction
practices as well. Rigid pavement, if designed and
built properly, provides excellent long term
performance with little maintenance required.
However for various reasons, distresses take
place
and
repair/
rehabilitation
becomes
necessary.
Construction of a rigid pavement is a fairly complex
process. It includes many processes like:

 Proper preparation of sub-grade and

base,
Choice and handling of aggregates and
other materials,
Development of concrete mix design,
Production and transport of the concrete,
and placing, finishing, curing and joint
sawing the concrete,
Placing of reinforcing bars or dowels etc.

Information to be collected:
Project Information:
Design details
Construction details
Traffic
Environmental
Site Information:
Site condition survey
Type, severity and quality of each distress
Cause of Distress:
Design, load, water, temperature, materials or construction

Distress Classification:
Distresses are either structural or functional
Structural distresses affect the pavements ability to carry traffic
Cracking, spalling and durability
Functional distresses affect the quality and safety of the
pavement
Roughness, noise and surface polishing

Rehabilitation Strategies:
Depends on the existing condition of the pavement Restoration
Resurfacing
reconstruction

 Techniques are applied when pavement has little deterioration

Repairs of isolated areas of distresses

Applicable when pavement has medium to high level

of distress and restoration is no longer effective

Applicable when the pavement has high levels of distresses

SEVERITY NORMS:
Low: Degradation is not very perceptible by the user.
Safety, the comfort of wearing surface or the
structural integrity are not affected. A preventive
intervention could be considered

Moderate:
Degradation is perceptible by the user safety, the comfort of
wearing surface or the structural integrity can be affected.
An intervention is to be considered.

 High: Degradation is perceptible obviously by the user. At

authorized maximum speed, safety and the comfort of
wearing surface are seriously affected. Structural integrity
is also seriously affected. An intervention is essential

TYPES OF DISTRESSES
Cracking
Longitudinal Cracks, Transverse Cracks, Corner
Breaks, Durability Cracks/ D Cracks
Surface Defects
Plastic Shrinkage Cracking, Map Cracking, Scaling,
Polished Aggregates, Worn out/Washed out texture,
Pop-outs
Joint Defects
Transverse Joint Seal Damage, Longitudinal Seal
Damage, Spalling of Transverse Joint, Spalling of
Longitudinal Joints
Miscellaneous Distresses
Blow-ups, Faulting of Transverse Joints and Cracks,
Lane to shoulder Drop off or separation, Lane to
Median Separation, Water Bleeding and Pumping

Longitudinal Cracks
Cracks are parallel to the center Line of the pavement

Excessive Slab Width,

Improper construction of longitudinal Joints (delay in sawing inadequate groove),
Improper construction of supporting base layers,
Heavy load repetitions,
Deficient thickness of the slab

Transverse Cracks
Cracks are at right angles to the central line of the pavement

Excessive slab length

Late sawing of contraction joints
Loss of foundation support
Lack of load transfer at joints
Corrosion of reinforcement
Improper placement of dowels

CORNER CRACKING:
A corner crack is a diagonal
crack that meets the both
longitudinal and transverse joint
within 2 to 6 feet of the same
slab corner. A slab can have as
many as four corner Cracks.

Poor load transfer across the

joint or lack of support at the
corner
Excessive loading
Stresses like thermal curling
and moisture warping

Durability Cracks/ D Cracks:

D cracking is characterized by closely spaced hairline cracking pattern
formations. These occur adjacent to joints and are accomplished by a dark
coloring of the cracking pattern and the surrounding area.
The main reason of such distresses is the expansive pressure caused by
the freezing and thawing in poor quality of aggregates used in the concrete

Plastic Shrinkage Cracking

These cracks appear as a group of short, approximately
parallel cracks, oblique to the line of the slab. They are
normally neither deep nor they extend tooth edge of the
slab.
These normally occur between three to four hours after the
laying of the concrete. They can range in width between .1
to 3mm and can be as long as I m. Plastic shrinkage
cracks are likely to occur when the rate of evaporation due
to hot weather and the drying wind is more.

Map Cracking
A series of cracks that extend only into the upper surface of the slab. Larger
cracks are oriented in the longitudinal direction of the pavement and are
inter connected by finer transverse or random cracks. These cracks are
shallow, 5 mm to 12 mm in depth.
This may lead to scaling of the surface. These cracks are caused by the
use of higher cement content/ early strength cement ,
that leads to high heat of hydration and creates large temperature
gradient through the slab depth, especially near the surface

Scaling
Deterioration of the upper concrete slab surface is called scaling,
normally 3 mm to 13 mm deep and may occur any where on
the slab.
Effect of bleeding, excess W/c ratio
Poor quality of aggregates
Freeze and thaw, use of deicing salts

Polished Aggregates/
Wornout/Washed out texture
Polished aggregates/ surface
polish is the loss of the original
surface texture. This type of
distress causes the Pavement
to loose its skid resistance
especially when wet.
Wearing off of surface texture
due to traffic action
The use of the soft aggregates
in the construction also
contribute to surface polish
Wearing of texture due to rain
when the mix is still green

Pop-outs
Pop-outs are small pieces of concrete that break loose
form the surface. These range from 25-100 mm in diameter
and from 13-50 mm deep.

These are caused by the use of expansive aggregate or

non-durable material

JOINT SEAL DAMAGE

All joints needs to be properly maintained to prevent
surface water run-off into the sub-base or sub-grade to
weaken the pavement . When the sealant comes out of
the joint, detritus will build up in them resulting in spalling
and blow-up.
Inferior joint sealant, loss of adhesive and cohesive
properties of the sealant
Oxidation/ hardening, because of the natural ageing or
over heating of sealant in case of hot poured sealant
Improper cleaning of joint groove, improper sealing
practice or too narrow joint width

Spalling of Joints
Cracking, Breaking, Chipping or fraying of slab edges,
progress with time.

Concrete material properties (coarse aggregate),

construction practices (early joint sawing) having a
significant effect on the occurrence of spalling.
Intrusion of incompressible foreign material also
causes spalling.

BLOW-UPS
Blowups are localized
upward bulking and
shattering of the slabs at
transverse joints or cracks.
Transverse opening are
filled with incompressible
solid In sufficient joint depth
Areas subjected to large
temperature swing, where
joints become filled with
sand in winter and develop
high compressive stresses
in hot periods

Water Bleeding and Pumping

Presence of water beneath the pavement due to seepage
through cracks. Dynamic impact of traffic loading allows
fines to be pumped up on to the pavement surface.

FAULTING OF TRANSVERSE JOINTS AND CRACKS

Faulting (sometimes referred to as step faulting), is a vertical displacement
of abutting slabs at the transverse joints creating a step in the pavement
Erosion of base material- when erodible bases containing appreciable
amounts of fines are present with water that results in incomplete and non
uniform slab support.

Lane to shoulder drop off or separation, Lane to Median Separation

Shoulder constructed with earth/bituminous concrete

settles due vehicle movement during over taking.

Environment factor Rain, erodes the shoulder.

Transverse shrinkage of slab is the primary cause of

shoulder/median separation.

PRESERVATION/ REPAIR STRATEGIES

There are many variables in materials and environment as well as other
factors that affect the performance of pavement structures. The three
principal ways areCURLING STRESS :
Temperature difference at top & bottom surfaces of the concrete slab. Since
slab weight and friction with the base restrict its movement, stresses develop
in the slab
SHRINKAGE/ EXPANSION :
Environment temperature causes expansion (when hot) and contraction
(when cool) which create joint horizontal movement, in addition to curling.
LOAD STRESS:
Compressive and tensile stresses within the slab and to adjacent one (as
long as load transfer efficiency is > 0) are created when loads are applied.

CRACK MAINTENANCE
Type of the Crack
Hair line
Narrow
Medium
Wide
REPAIR PROCEDURES :
Crack Filling
Crack Sealing/ Joint
Resealing Stitching
Dowel Bar Retrofit
Partial Depth repair
Full Depth Repair
Slab Replacement

Width (mm)
<0.2
0.2 to <2.0
2.0 to 5.0
> 5.0

Crack Filling
- Placement of materials in to non-working cracks is
defined as crack filling.
- Hairline, Non-working cracks when starts deteriorating
remedial measures should be taken.
- Such cracks can be filled by injecting liquid epoxy,
before cracks should be cleaned by compressed air.
- It checks the intrusion of incompressible material and
infiltration of water.

CRACK SEALING/ JOINT RESEALING

Maintenance procedure for working cracks- that undergoes significant
deflection under load and has thermal opening and closing
movement.
These can function as joints. Similarly resealing of joints includes the
removal of existing joint seals, cleaning and resealing the transverse/
longitudinal joints.
Epoxy resin, silicone or asphalt rubber

Sand Blasting a Joint

Liquid Sealant being applied

STITCHING
Operation done at cracks to maintain aggregate interlock
and to provide added reinforcement to minimize relative
movement of concrete slabs. It is also used at
longitudinal joints to keep the slab from separating.
CROSS-STITCHING Holes are drilled at an angle so that they intersect the
longitudinal cracks or joints at about mid depth of the
slab
After removing the dust by compressed air epoxy is
injected in to the holes
Tie bars are inserted and excess epoxy is removed

SLOT STITCHING
Slots perpendicular to longitudinal cracks/ joints
are cut with slot cutting machine or walk
behind saw
Slots are prepared by removing the concrete
and cleaning the slot
Deformed bars are placed and backfill material
applied, finished and cured
It is important to provide high strength backfill
material and good consolidation around the bars
and concrete surface

DOWEL BAR RETROFIT

Load transfer is defined as the ability of joint or crack to
transfer the load from one slab to the next.
Majority of load transfer is achieved by dowels.
Absence/improper dowels along with deficient sub-base
or sub-grade results in faulting and cracking problems.
Slot Cutting.

Slot Cutter

Cuts made for Slot

BACK FILL MATERIAL

Similar thermal properties to the concrete
Should provide strong bond to the existing concrete
Fast Setting
Have Little Shrinkage
Develop enough strength in short time
High early strength concrete, having accelerators and
aluminum powder ( to improve set time and reduce
shrinkage) and propriety mixes can be used

PARTIAL DEPTH REPAIR

Shallow spalling
Shallow cracking
Pop-outs
Scaling
*
Determine the damaged area by striking the pavement
*
Removing the broken, damaged, disintegrated pavement
*
Marking of the defective area, 2 inches beyond outer limit
*
Saw the marked area and remove unsound material with a
chipping hammer
*
Surfaces within the repair areas should be cleaned thoroughly
*
A 0.25 inch thick foam bordering should be kept in the joints
*
Repair material should be finished to the cross section of the
existing pavement
*
The finished surface should be textured

FULL DEPTH REPAIR:

Full-depth slab repair involves removing and replacing at
least a portion of a slab to the bottom of the concrete in
order to restore the areas of deterioration.
It improves pavement riding quality and structural
integrity and can extend pavement service life.
Typically used at deteriorated joints or cracks
STEPS INVOLVED IN FULL DEPTH REPAIR Full-depth saw cut around the repair area
Removing the deteriorated concrete
Installing full depth 0.25 ft thick polyethylene foam
expansion joint filler along the transverse joints prior to
placing the new concrete necessary to inhibit spalling
along the transverse joints.

- Reestablishing load transfer along the full-depth saw cut.

- opening to traffic once the desired strength of the
concrete has been attained

SLAB REPLACEMENT
Slab replacement is defined as the removal of individual
slab (or panel) of concrete pavement
When slabs have lost their structural capacity as well as
ride quality, have multiple cracks and/or severe crack or
joint spalling or depressions this strategy is used
Concrete slabs should be replaced with similar concrete
materials
It is important that an assessment of the underlying
base be made, failure of underlying base layers during
a slab replacement will result in premature failure of the
slab leading to higher maintenance costs

Slab Replacement with Dowel Basket and

Dowel Bars Being inserted at the Joint

Newly Replaced Slab

DIAMOND GRINDING
Diamond grinding (DG) removes a thin layer at the
surface of hardened PCC pavement using closely
spaced diamond blades
To correct functional distresses caused by pavement
surface defects such as, noise, roughness and skid
resistance

SHOULDER DROP OFF

Common in earthen or gravel shoulder, may also
occur in black topped hard shoulder
In case of earthen or gravel shoulder fresh
selected material for lost shoulder material
should be added, the shoulder material should
be loosened, watered, leveled and compacted to
the required degree of compaction
In bituminous shoulders a thin bituminous
overlay should be provided to restore the
surface to the required level

LANE TO SHOULDER/ MEDIAN

SEPARATION
Opening/ joint should be sealed properly.
In case of concrete or bituminous
shoulders ,sealing is possible
Earthen shoulders can not be sealed,
these should be compacted properly to
control the seepage of water

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE REPAIR MATERIAL TO

BE CONSIDERED

Compatibility with the original concrete

Cost
Easy to handle and use at site
Durable under the prevailing weather conditions
Repaired pavement can be opened to traffic within
reasonable time
Availability

A Case Study:
The Rigid pavement on Allahabad Bypass from km
100 to 158 (Fatehpur Kokhraj section) of NH-2
was constructed in 2004. The total length of the
section is 58 km with chainage 0 at km 100.
To investigate the severity, causes and quantum
of damaged concrete panels
To suggest the remedial measures to prevent
further deterioration of the cracked panels.
To suggest repair techniques for the damaged
panels

 Most of the concrete slabs in outer lane of left carriageway

(Kanpur to Allahabad) had developed longitudinal cracks in
middle one-third of the outer lane

Photo 1-2 Cracks in middle one third portion of

outer lane

The condition of the rigid pavement in the right

carriageway was in good condition with no visible
sign
of cracking

Right Carriage way in good condition

 The inner panels from 585.753 to 628.753 (43 km) have only short
length cracks (<1m) at a few places, where as in the outer lane from km
585.753 to 628.753, short length to full length longitudinal cracks (>1 m)
were observed.
At chainage 586 to 588, 622-623, 623-624 full length longitudinal
cracks were observed extending to several slabs

Longitudinal cracks extending to

many slabs

Cross-Stitching of the longitudinal cracks was observed at km 585.800.

It is further noticed that due to the cross-stitching the widening of
the cracks has stopped but the longitudinal crack has further propagated
to several slabs ahead

Cross stitching
chainage -585.800

A transverse crack with spalled edges was observed at

chainage 603.805

Spalling of Transverse Crack

Longitudinal Crack Full Depth Crack

Crack not induced

under saw
cut tied shoulder joint

Full width transverse crack in inner lane (Chainage 584.505)

Corner Breaks

Popout

Spalling at Transverse crack (Chainage 603.805)

Scaling and repaired spalled joints

Partial Depth Repair Failure

(Chainage 607.250)

Lane to median separation

(Chainage 585.387 - 585.405)

Joint Sealant Damage

Rain-cuts gullies in earthen shoulder

Remedial Measures
Longitudinal Cracks
< 0.5 mm
> 0.5mm < 2.0 mm
2.0 to 3.0 mm
> 3.0 mm

-------------- 2859 Nos.

-------------- 3380 Nos.
--------------- 323 Nos.
--------------97 Nos.

Partial Depth Longitudinal cracks in PQC: up to 2mm

to be kept under observation for two years
Longitudinal cracks in PQC: greater than 2mm to be repaired
to Full Depth Repair

Transverse Cracks
Total 12 panels were found to have transverse cracks
The width varies from 0.5 to 2.0 mm without any faulting etc
These cracks are partial depth cracks (non functional)
Cross stitching and sealing with epoxy resin

Repair Methodology for other distresses

Corner Breaks

Epoxy mortar/ Elastomeric

concrete or Partial Depth Repair

Popout

Repair with Epoxy mortar

Transverse
Crack spalling

Partial Depth Repair

Scaling or
Abraded surface

Filling with Elastomeric concrete

Failure of partial
Depth Repair

Full Depth Repair

Lane to Median
Separation

To be filled with M 35 Concrete

Surface Polish

Retexturing of surface

Rain cuts gullies in

earthen shoulders

To be rehabilitated with suitable soil

Joint Sealant Damage

Joint Resealing