Joint performance evaluation for a Canadian precast concrete inlay panel trial

ABSTRACT

The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario in Canada recently undertook a pilot study of using precast concrete inlay panels to rehabilitate high-volume asphalt highway pavements. Three different versions of this rehabilitation strategy were designed and constructed. The pilot study was constructed on a high-volume highway in Ontario in 2016 and subjected to service conditions. One of the performance measures being tracked for the project is Load-Transfer Efficiency (LTE_δ), measured via Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) testing. Two FWD evaluations were performed on the pavement section: immediately following construction, and after one year of service. The LTE_δ performances of the different design strategies are summarised and analysed, using least significant difference statistical analysis. Similarly, the potential for sub-panel voids is measured using zero-load back-calculation. Because of the limitations of LTE_δ in measuring joint performance, a relative displacement measure (RD₇₅) is developed and its use is outlined and recommended as a meaningful measure of joint performance based on FWD test results.

KEYWORDS:

• precast concrete pavement
• load-transfer efficiency
• concrete joint performance
• falling weight deflectometer testing
• Relative joint displacement

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Warren Lee, Susanne Chan, and Stephen Lee at the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario and Dahlia Malek at the University of Waterloo for their help with this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.