STRUCTURAL EVALUATION OF TRANSVERSE JOINT OF 30 YEARS CONCRETE PAVEMENT ON EXPRESSWAY WITH FWD BACKCALCULATION

Abstract

 A section of jointed concrete pavement on Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway in the central region of Japan main island was opened in 1986. After 30 year service, small faulting has begun to appear at many joints. In order to grasp the entire situation of the joints, the FWD tests were performed at all joints in 2011 and 2017, and the structural status of each joint was evaluated from the results of the tests with a backcalculation method considering degradation. The evaluation results were verified with core boring investigations and slab excavation survey. The evaluation on the joints of this particular concrete pavement revealed that the number of degraded joints has been increased rapidly from 2011 to 2017. It was also investigated how the degree of joint degradation affects the stress of concrete slab.