The application and early-age behaviors of continuously reinforced bonded concrete overlay of distressed jointed concrete pavements

There are many kinds of distresses occurring in jointed concrete pavement (JCP), especially those which have exceeded or are approaching the end of their design life. Considerable effort and money have been spent to maintain the pavements by providing full-depth repair, under sealing, and patching; however, these distresses reoccur frequently. In the case of severe distresses, an overlay was constructed on the top of JCP. If the asphalt overlay was constructed on the top of deteriorated JCP, the reflective crack would occur in the overlay quickly. Continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) would provide good performance in terms of high structural capacity and efficient riding quality. CRCP bonded overlay was selected as the option for the rehabilitation of a 0.5 mile section on JCP US75 in Sherman, Texas, USA, which had been subjected to numerous rehabilitation. The pavement design and concrete mix design are introduced. In order to reduce the reflective cracking at the location of the JCP joints, geotextile were placed before the construction of the overlay. To study the effectiveness of the geotextile, twenty joints were not covered by the geotextile. The falling weight deflectometer testing was run on the pavement before and after the curing time and was analyzed and shown in this paper.