LONG TERM PERFORMANCE OF AN EXPERIMENTAL COMPOSITE PAVEMENT

THE REPORT PRESENTS AN EVALUATION OF AN EXPERIMENTAL PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTED ON HIGHWAY 401 NEAR MILTON, ONTARIO, IN 1959. THE EXPERIMENT CONSISTED OF 7 SECTIONS OF COMPOSITE PAVEMENT AND A SECTION OF CONTINUOUSLY REINFORCED CONCRETE PAVEMENT. THE CONTROL SECTION IS NORMAL REINFORCED CONCRETE PAVEMENT (1959 DESIGN). DATA ON TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL CRACKING, ROAD RIDABILITY, AND SKID RESISTANCE ARE PRESENTED; EACH PAVEMENT SECTION IS RATED ON PRESENT PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS. CONCLUSIONS ARE THAT (A) THE MOST SATISFACTORY PAVEMENT SECTION IN THE EXPERIMENT CONSISTS OF A 3.25-IN. BITUMINOUS OVERLAY ON AN 8-IN. UNREINFORCED CONCRETE BASE, (B) MESH REINFORCEMENT IN THE CONCRETE BASE HAS NO BENEFICIAL EFFECT ON THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THE COMPOSITE PAVEMENT, AND (C) THE BEST COMPOSITE PAVEMENT IN THIS EXPERIMENT PERFORMED SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN MANY COMPARABLE RIGID AND FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS THAT ARE LOCATED ELSEWHERE ON HIGHWAY 401 AND ARE OF APPROXIMATELY THE SAME AGE AND SUBJECTED TO A SIMILAR TRAFFIC VOLUME.