CHAPTER1

Introductory Background
1.1 Introduction
Although pavement design has gradually evolved from art to science, empirical
methodologies still play an important role up to date. Prior to early 1920s,
determination of pavement thickness was based purely on experience.
Generally, the same thickness would be used for different sections of varying
pavement soil conditions. As experience was gained and following pavement
research throughout the years, various methods were developed by different
agencies for determination of the required pavement thickness. It is not feasible
to document all design methods that have evolved and applied. However, in this
study, only a few typical methods will be cited and discussed to indicate the
trend. [6]

Rigid (or concrete) pavements (RPs) are constructed of Portland cement

concrete (PCC). The first concrete pavement was built in Bellefontaine, Ohio in
1893 (Fitch, 1996), 15 years earlier than the one constructed in Detroit,
Michigan, in 1908. As of 2001, there were about 59,000 miles (95,000 km) of
rigid pavements in the United States. The development of design methods for
rigid pavements is not as dramatic as that of flexible pavements, because the
flexural stress in concrete has long been considered as a major design factor.

Concrete pavements can be classified into four types: jointed plain concrete
pavement (JPCP), jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP), continuous
reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), and pre-stressed concrete pavement
(PCP). Except for PCP with lateral pre-stressing, a longitudinal joint should be
installed between two traffic lanes to prevent longitudinal cracking. The JPCP,
requiring no steel reinforcements and thus the least expensive to construct, is a
popular form of construction. Depending on the thickness of the slab, typical