SEAL DESIGN FOR POURED JOINTS IN PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE PAVEMENTS

DURING THE SUMMER OF 1958 EXPERIMENTAL JOINTS WERE INSTALLED ON THE NORTH SYRACUSE INTERCHANGE OF INTERSTATE 81 TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF THE DIMENSIONS AND SPACING OF TRANSVERSE JOINTS IN CONCRETE PAVEMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SEALER MATERIAL. THREE JOINT WIDTHS (1/4, 3/8, AND 1/2 IN.) AND TWO JOINT SPACINGS (43 FT. AND 85 FT.) WERE USED IN THIS AREA. ALL THE JOINTS WERE SAWED 2 IN. DEEP, HOWEVER, THE SEALED DEPTH WAS LIMITED TO 1/2, 1, OR 2 IN. BY PLACING A FILLER IN THE LOWER PORTION OF THE JOINT. PERIODIC MEASUREMENTS OF THE CHANGES IN JOINT OPENING AND THE DEPTH TO THE TOP OF THE SEALER WERE CONDUCTED FOR 14 MONTHS, AND VISUAL SURVEYS OF SEALER FAILURE WERE MADE PERIODICALLY OVER THE LAST 7 MONTHS. DURING THE SUMMER OF 1959 A SECOND TEST AREA WAS ESTABLISHED ON INTERSTATE 87 NORTH OF ALBANY. ALL JOINTS IN THE AREA WERE HAND-FORMED CONTRACTION JOINTS OF THE SAME WIDTH (APPROXIMATELY 3/4 IN.) SPACED AT 61 FT. A STYROFOAM FILLER WAS INSERTED IN THE BOTTOM OF THE JOINT IN ORDER THAT VARIOUS TYPES OF SEALER COULD EACH BE PLACED TO THREE DEPTHS (1/2, 1 AND 2 IN.). PERIODIC PERFORMANCE SURVEYS INCLUDING A PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY HAVE BEEN PERFORMED. THE RESULTS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT THE ASSUMPTIONS OF CONSTANT SEALER VOLUME AND PARABOLIC NECKDOWN ARE ADEQUATE TO PREDICT THE DEFORMATION OF SEALER PLACED IN TRANSVERSE JOINTS IN CONCRETE PAVEMENTS. THE RESULTS ALSO INDICATE, WITH THE TYPE OF SEALER AND JOINT SPACINGS USED, THAT TO MAINTAIN THE MOST EFFECTIVE SEAL THE JOINTS SHOULD BE SEALED NO MORE THAN 1/2 IN. DEEP AND HAVE A MINIMUM INITIAL WIDTH OF 3/8 IN. /AUTHOR/