Paving and Jointing Plan

Planning the paving lanes for RCC is critical to the success of the pavement design, especially with respect to the placement of the longitudinal construction joints and the layout of the surface drainage. Each project site should be studied to understand the expected flow of traffic, especially with respect to trucks entering, using, and exiting the paved area.

Transverse cracking in a RCC pavement is much more suited to carry traffic loads, as these cracks typically possess the requisite stiffness and load transfer capacity to do so. On the other hand, the longitudinal joints are typically construction type joints, and their ability to transfer load is limited. As a consequence, these joints should not be placed where significant truck traffic will traverse them on a regular basis. If this cannot be avoided for a particular portion of a longitudinal joint, then special precautions should be taken, such as retrofitting the joint with reinforcing bars or using a sleeper slab to support the joint and facilitate load transfer.

The surface drainage for an RCC pavement should also be well planned to avoid long drainage paths or poorly drained configurations that cause the runoff to stagnate or pond unnecessarily. These situations can lead to weakened subgrades and localized failures requiring major repairs early in the life of the pavement. Again, break lines could be aligned with the longitudinal joints but should be sealed, especially where flow paths may coincide with them. Transverse cracks are tight enough to limit moisture infiltration and typically would not require sealing even if they were induced with a single blade sawcut.