HIGHWAY & RAILROAD

ENGINEERING
Rigid Pavements
 Rigid Pavement Types
Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP)
◦ Most common type of rigid pavement.
◦ JPCP controls cracks by dividing the pavement up into individual slabs
separated by contraction joints.
◦ Slabs are typically one lane wide and between 3.7 m (12 ft.) and 6.1 m (20
ft.) long.
◦ JPCP does not use any reinforcing steel but does use dowel bars and tie
bars.
Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP)
◦ As with JPCP, JRCP controls cracks by dividing the pavement up into
individual slabs separated by contraction joints.
◦ However, these slabs are much longer (as long as 15 m (50 ft.)) than JPCP
slabs, so JRCP uses reinforcing steel within each slab to control within-slab
cracking. This pavement type is no longer constructed in the U.S. due to
some long-term performance problems.
Rigid Pavement Types
• Continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP)
◦ This type of rigid pavement uses reinforcing steel rather than contraction joints for
crack control.
◦ Cracks typically appear ever 1.1 - 2.4 m (3.5 - 8 ft.) are held tightly together by the
underlying reinforcing steel
Rigid Pavement Type Usage in
the U.S.
 Jointed Plain Concrete
Pavement (JPCP)
Jointed plain concrete pavement uses contraction joints to
control cracking and does not use any reinforcing steel.
Transverse joint spacing is selected such that temperature
and moisture stresses do not produce intermediate cracking
between joints.
This typically results in a spacing no longer than about 6.1 m
(20 ft.).
Dowel bars are typically used at transverse joints to assist in
load transfer.
Tie bars are typically used at longitudinal joints.
 JPCP
Crack Control
◦ Contraction joints, both transverse and longitudinal
Joint Spacing
◦ Typically between 3.7 m (12 ft.) and 6.1 m (20 ft.).
◦ Due to the nature of concrete, slabs longer than about 6.1 m (20 ft.) will usually
crack in the middle.
◦ Depending upon environment and materials slabs shorter than this may also
crack in the middle.
Reinforcing Steel: None
Load Transfer
◦ Aggregate interlock and dowel bars.
◦ For low-volume roads aggregate interlock is often adequate.
◦ However, high-volume roads generally require dowel bars in each transverse
joint to prevent excessive faulting.
JPCP
 Jointed Reinforced Concrete
Pavement (JRCP)
Jointed reinforced concrete pavement uses contraction
joints and reinforcing steel to control cracking.
◦ Transverse joint spacing is longer than that for JPCP and
typically ranges from about 7.6 m (25 ft.) to 15.2 m (50 ft.).
◦ Temperature and moisture stresses are expected to cause
cracking between joints, hence reinforcing steel or a steel mesh
is used to hold these cracks tightly together.
◦ Dowel bars are typically used at transverse joints to assist in
load transfer while the reinforcing steel/wire mesh assists in
load transfer across cracks.
 JRCP
Crack Control
◦ Contraction joints as well as reinforcing steel.

Joint Spacing
◦ Longer than JPCP and up to a maximum of about 15 m (50 ft.).
◦ Due to the nature of concrete, the longer slabs associated with JRCP will
crack.

Reinforcing Steel
◦ A minimal amount is included mid-slab to hold cracks tightly together.
◦ This can be in the form of deformed reinforcing bars or a thick wire mesh.
JRCP
Load Transfer
◦ Dowel bars and reinforcing steel.
◦ Dowel bars assist in load transfer across transverse joints while
reinforcing steel assists in load transfer across mid-panel cracks.

Other Info
◦ In general, JRCP has fallen out of favor because of inferior
performance when compared to JPCP and CRCP.
JRCP
 Continuously Reinforced
Concrete Pavement (CRCP)
Continuously reinforced concrete pavement does not
require any contraction joints.
◦ Transverse cracks are allowed to form but are held tightly
together with continuous reinforcing steel.
◦ Research has shown that the maximum allowable design crack width is
about 0.5 mm (0.02 inches) to protect against spalling and water
penetration.
◦ Cracks typically form at intervals of 1.1 - 2.4 m (3.5 - 8 ft.).
◦ Reinforcing steel usually constitutes about 0.6 - 0.7 percent of
the cross-sectional pavement area and is located near mid-
depth in the slab.
◦ Typically, No. 5 and No. 6 deformed reinforcing bars are used.
 CRCP
Crack Control
◦ Reinforcing steel

Joint Spacing
◦ Not applicable. No transverse contraction joints are used.

Reinforcing Steel
◦ Typically about 0.6 - 0.7 percent by cross-sectional area

Load Transfer
◦ Reinforcing steel, typically No. 5 or 6 bars, grade 60.
CRCP