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G.D.S.Northcott
(Department of Transport)
10.1 Introduction
There are several different types of defect which occur in concrete roads. It is
important that the type and cause is correctly diagnosed so that they can be
effectively repaired. This chapter gives details of typical defects and the
reasons for their occurrence, supported by examples in practice.
Until the early 1970s, concrete pavements in the UK were mainly jointed
reinforced slabs. Jointed unreinforced slabs of the same thickness as
reinforced slabs were then allowed as alternative designs. For the next 15
years concrete roads in the UK were constructed as unreinforced slabs which
were more economical in initial cost. Current designs provide for thick
jointed unreinforced slabs, thinner jointed reinforced slabs, continuously
reinforced concrete pavements or thinner continuously reinforced concrete
road bases with a bituminous surfacing. Figure 10.1 shows a typical
longitudinal cross-section of each of these pavements. The contractor and
engineer now have a wider choice of pavement to suit local conditions.
Concrete shrinks on hardening as discussed in Chapter 2, section 2.2.1. To
allow for this and for the variations in dimensions which occur as a result of
seasonal changes in temperature, joints or controlled cracks are necessary in
pavement slabs. There are three types of joint: contraction, expansion and
warping. Contraction joints allow slabs to shorten with a reduction in
temperature. Expansion joints act similarly but also allow for additional
expansion at temperatures higher than those at which the slab was
constructed. Warping joints allow the slabs to curl when the temperatures of
the upper and lower surfaces are different. As they are tied joints they only act
as hinges.
Where there is a repetitive loading as in road slabs, there is a need for
continuity between slabs to provide load transfer from one section to another
to reduce rocking movement. In unreinforced concrete slabs this is provided
by dowel bars or tie bars placed at mid-depth at the joint between slabs. Slab
sizes are normally 5m between joints but this can be. increased to 6m if
limestone aggregate is used. In reinforced roads where slabs are longer the
load transfer is provided by aggregate interlock at cracks which form between
joints and are maintained as fine cracks by the restraint of the reinforcement.
The joints perform the same function as in an unreinforced slab.
Airfield pavements, where the loads may be greater but less frequent, are
normally thicker unreinforced slabs, without dowels at joints, and laid on
deeper sub-bases than road pavements.
10.2 Defects
10.2.1 Investigation
The Department of Transports standard instructions (1985, 1988) for the
inspection of trunk roads and motorways together with other local authority
Shallow spoiling
The largest number of defects at joints result from inadequate sealing or
poorly compacted low strength concrete near the joint. The seal debonds or
tears from the slab allowing water and detritus to enter the joint. In winter
frozen water in the joint will cause spalling of the slab edges.
Deep spalling
(Fig. 10.2, b) This is often misconstrued as arris spalling. However, the
cracks, usually semi-circular in form, appear at a distance back from a joint of
over 200mm. It emanates usually from mid-depth as a result of dowel
misplacement, locking of dowels or a build-up of detritus down in the joint
crack. The build-up of detritus can be of such proportions that in high
temperatures it will contribute to expansion failures (blow-ups) along the
length of a traverse joint. These failures need full repairs.
D cracking
A series of small cracks adjacent and parallel to a transverse joint and
continuing around the corner to a longitudinal joint is commonly called D
cracking (Fig. 10.2, c). The cause is likely to be water-absorbent aggregates or
porous concrete which are frost susceptible.
Fig. 10.3 Plan of hypothetical concrete road showing structural defects; a, transverse
crack; b, crack at joint; c, longitudinal crack (joint former missing); d, longitudinal
crack; e, short longitudinal crack; f, diagonal cracks; g, corner cracks; h, cracks at
gulleys and manholes; i, expansion failure (blow-up).
Alkali-silica reaction
This has not been a problem in pavement concrete in the UK as there has been
no evidence of map-cracking which is a symptom of alkali-silica reaction in
structural concrete. Some traces of alkali-silica reaction gel have been found
but only in isolated cases around cracks which have previously formed and
allowed moisture to penetrate the concrete.
Carbonation
As carbonation occurs mainly in concrete which is kept relatively dry there is
little evidence of carbonation in pavement concrete in the UK, where
humidity is generally high.
Sulphate attack
Pavement design with its capping layers and sub-bases precludes attack on the
concrete slab by sulphates from shales in the sub-grade. However, it is
necessary to protect foundations and abutments to bridges by the use of
sulphate-resisting cement or cement blends with pulverized fuel ash or ground
granulated blastfurnace slag.
Fig. 10.4 Faulty compression seal in section: (a) tulip tree compression seal;
(b) evacuated seal inserted into fresh concrete; (c) seal failing to expand to
fill joint in winter; (d) diamond-shaped hard rubber knob causing horizontal
cracking under compression and resultant spalling.
In one road where this type of seal was used it had a diamond-shaped hard
rubber knob at the base of the fin (Fig. 10.4(d)). In later years, compressive
forces around the knob caused horizontal cracks and spalling. The
Specification for Highway Works (Department of Transport, 1986) now
requires any protrusions on the fin of joint formers which are left in the
concrete to be small and rounded in cross-section.
Spoiled arrises
If joints are formed in the wet concrete and the concrete is not fully
Deep spalling
Cracks at joints
Cracks emanating from joint positions which wander towards the outside edge
of the slab can occur when joint grooves are sawn or formed.
In sawing joints it is necessary to saw as early as possible after the
concrete has hardened without causing spalling by plucking out of the
coarse aggregate. If left too late, the concrete may already be in tension and
the cutting of the groove from one side will initiate a crack which, without
a discontinuity to follow, will take the easiest route towards the edge (Fig.
10.3, b ).
Wide dual carriageways with several traffic lanes are often constructed in
two halves longitudinally as the width of the slabs is dependent on the
maximum width of the paving train. If laid in summer with wet-formed
joints only one joint in about every four will crack initially due to shrinkage
of the concrete (Fig. 10.8, joint type A). These joints tend to have greater
movement until such time as the remaining joints crack (Fig. 10.8, joint
type B).
If the second half (or rip) is laid adjacent to the first, the pattern of initial
cracking may not coincide with that of the first rip. When winter comes the
joints in the first rip will open up and induce tensile stress at the side of the
adjacent second rip and cause the joint to crack. The crack will emanate from
the butt joint towards the remote edge. If there is a proper discontinuity along
the line of the joint which has been formed correctly with a joint groove then
the crack will follow the discontinuity.
If the joint former is buried or partially omitted so that there is no major
discontinuity for the crack to follow, it will be deflected offline by the coarse
Surface irregularities
These can result from grout runs at the edge of badly adjusted brush-texturing
machines. Bumps can also occur when the paving machine is stopped.
Isolated cases will not impair the riding quality unduly, but if the stoppage is
regular, as in one road where joints were formed by stopping a slip-form
paver, the bumps become cyclic and create an unacceptable ride at certain
speeds. Bumps can be rectified by bump cutting using grinding apparatus or
carefully controlled bush hammering within contours marked out after using a
straight edge and wedge.
Stepping between slabs indicates a failure of the dowel bars associ-
ated with subgrade failures. To rectify this the voids beneath the slab can
be filled by vacuum grouting, but failing this the slabs should be
replaced.
Surface scaling
Frost damage at the surface is usually the main cause of widespread surface
scaling and is brought about by lack of or insufficient air-entraining agent. It
has occurred in very workable mixes with high water-cement ratios which,
with low air content, produced permeable concrete at the surface in hand-laid
sections of slip roads.
The following remedies could be used depending on the severity of the
damage.
1. First carry out any necessary bump cutting; then reduce the
permeability of the surface concrete by impregnation using a silane-
based material. This is likely to reduce the skid resistance of the
concrete slightly.
2. Remove the top surface of the slab by bush-hammering 3050mm down
and replace by a thin bonded concrete topping.
3. Break out and replace the whole slab.
Pop-outs
Small round holes appear in the surface of the concrete after one winter
(Fig. 10.2, f). These are caused by frost-susceptible material in the
aggregates. In some cases it has been caused by clay lumps from the base of
the aggregate stockpiles and to avoid this bases of stockpiles should be
cement treated. In another case chalk lumps were mixed with the flint
coarse aggregate and caused a large number of pop-outs in one section of
motorway.
Some flints from Hampshire and Sussex which appear whiter than normal
tend to be particularly frost susceptible. This is because the white cortex
material surrounding the flint has a high water absorption. Pop-outs have
occurred using this type of aggregate on airfields where the debris is much
more of a safety hazard than on roads where it is simply a nuisance. If there
is sufficient of this aggregate in the mix it can expand in winter and cause D
cracking (Fig. 10.2, c). The aggregate can also contribute to alkali-silica
reaction.
Small pop-out holes can be reamed out and plugged with a 1:3 cement:
sand mortar. D cracking down to mid-depth is much more costly to repair as
it requires full depth repairs.
Transverse cracks
These occur at mid-bay or behind the dowel bars and are often caused by
locked joints, misplaced dowel bars or irregularities in the sub-base. In one
case the bitumastic paint used as a debonding agent for the dowel bars was
discovered to be a roofing felt adhesive. As a result most of the joints were
tied and cracks appeared at mid-bay.
The remedy is to carry out a full depth repair and form a new joint near the
crack or undertake complete bay replacement, depending on the degree of
damage.
Longitudinal cracks
These appear in slabs when the longitudinal joint formers and crack inducers
have been omitted.
If the crack is within the middle third of the tie bar it need only be routed
and sealed. If outside this limit then the crack should be stitched by inserting
from the surface additional staple-type tie bars. These are embedded in epoxy
resin mortar within a slot cut in the concrete which is subsequently filled with
fine concrete or cement-sand mortar (Fig. 10.9).
Diagonal cracks
These are symptomatic of sub-base and subgrade settlement. The most
common place for them to appear soon after construction is next to the
underbridges where the backfill to the bridge has not been fully compacted.
In such a case the cracks will quickly widen. In this situation full bay
replacement should be considered after further compaction of the sub-base.
Elsewhere, fine diagonal cracks can be contained by stitching with staple tie
bars, but if the cracks are wide and accompanied by considerable settlement
the bay should be replaced.
To reduce road closure time, fast-setting materials such as high alumina cement
mortars have been used. However, in wide patches the heat of hydration of this
type of mortar can lead to warping of the patch and lack of bond at the edges.
Lack of compaction around the edges of the patch allows moisture to enter
and frost damage will occur.
If repairs are required at both sides of a joint it is necessary to provide a
flexible groove former over the previous joint between the patches. Even if
grooves were later to be sawn for sealing it would be difficult to follow the
resultant crack in a patch which straddled the joint.
Failures of patches have occurred as a result of the main slab being too dry
before concrete is applied. To achieve a good bond with cementitious
materials it is necessary to soak the slab for several hours prior to applying
mortar or fine concrete. However, in the case of epoxy resin repair mortars the
concrete should be dry.
Although pavements are designed for a finite number of years on the basis
of traffic forecasts, the actual period may be shorter if traffic and
deterioration has increased. However, with regular maintenance and slab
replacement it could be considerably increased. Overlays, which in the UK
tended to be bituminous materials, need to be applied to the whole of the
carriageway irrespective of whether the whole carriageway needs
repairing.
References