Transverse Joint Distress and Mid-slab Cracking Distress in PCC Pavements: A Petrographer’s Perspective

A forensic investigation was conducted on twenty jointed plain concrete and reinforced concrete pavements in the Ohio Department of Transportation system that have shown above average performance to date (Lankard, 2010). Included are three Interstate pavements, six US routes, and eleven State routes. The oldest pavement in the study was constructed in 1946 and the youngest in 1997. Petrographic examinations and concrete property measurements were made on cores that were taken (in 2009) through transverse control joints and through mid-slab cracks where they were present. The 10 cm (4 in) diameter, full-depth cores were taken at sites where no deterioration was manifest on the wearing surface at the time of coring. However, eighty percent of the joint cores showed some level of sub-surface cracking distress; as did seventy percent of the cores taken through a mid-slab crack. The origin, evolution, and consequences of this distress are discussed.