Concrete Pavements for Local Government

Forms, reinforcement, joints,

dowels & tiebars
The quality of the placed concrete will be no
better than the quality of setting the forms,
fixing the reinforcement, and installing the
joints.

For each of these activities, the input of the

paving crew is vital.
Concrete Pavements for Local Government

Forms
 Setting fixed forms - basic principles

Thickness & width Line & level Edge vertical

 Fixed forms
have to withstand forces caused by the fresh
concrete during placing.

They need good :

Support
Bracing

Pinning

Jointing
 Basic formwork components
Hard
smooth
edge
Form & Brace at Securely
base suitable pinned
plate spacing

Packing if
required

Supporting ground
 Connecting forms
Firm connection Pins on
between forms both sides
of join
Smooth top
Brace on edge across
both sides of join in forms!
join

Supporting ground
 Fixed form detailing in the field
(M4 1980 De Martin and Gasparini)

A very good result using good basic rules

Form
bracing &
pinning

Form join
Firm
continuous
support
Good
running
surface
 Good timber formwork
Simple, low cost -
all the right
elements in place

Limited repeats
without a metal
running surface

Need to keep
running surface
clean and in good
condition
Terrible timber formwork

No bracing
Pegs not sufficient
Poor running
surface for screed
Large gap under
forms if concrete
moves, it cant be
compacted!
 Non conforming formwork

How can the concrete be fully compacted ?

 Non conforming formwork

Form face not vertical top edge of the concrete will spall
Concrete Pavements for Local Government

Reinforcement
 Basic principles
Three general criteria are important for steel reinforcement in
concrete road pavements:
Reinforcement, where required, is not to prevent cracking
but to control cracking which is assumed may occur.

The amount of steel used is small and, combined with its

location in the base, is insufficient to add to the flexural
strength of the pavement.

Even in plain concrete pavements (PCP), reinforcement is

required in certain slabs.
 Crack formation

Cracking is from shrinkage/curling not traffic

Crack starts from top and progresses down

 Reinforcing mesh in jointed
pavements
Reinforcement in TOP
third, with the minimum Reinforcement stops
cover on drawings, and short of joints - joints
supported on chairs must be able to
open/close

Supporting ground
Reinforcement at contraction joints
Contraction joint must open and close - no restriction
Reinforcement stopped short of joint
Only dowels cross the intended line of the joint
Reinforcement not to be disturbed during placing
Theyre going to have to walk in there
Mesh stability bar chairs on a regular grid of say 1m
Often use SL82 even if less required
CRCP reinforcement

Follows the same

principles as for mesh
set at correct height
on bar chairs

Less likely than

mesh to be disturbed
much heavier
Concrete Pavements for Local Government

Joints
 General jointing principles
Plain concrete design basis
Sufficient joints to anticipate cracking
Based on experience
General joint types
Plain concrete slab size
Keep it simple

Square or near square

Max 1 : 1.2
For 200mm thickness, max
side 4.6m / preferable 4.2m
For 150mm thickness, max
side 3.5m / preferable 3.2m
For 125mm thickness, max
side 2.8m / preferable 2.5m
Joint design objectives

Control cracking

Provide capacity to transfer

loads without stepping or
faulting at joint

Design joint layout for

practical/economical
construction
Contraction joint PCP

Preferably sawn D/4

 PCP-D doweled joint
Slab length can be increased a little
Joint is dowelled to cater for the additional shrinkage

4.2 m max

Plain concrete pavement PCP

5 m max

Plain concrete pavement - dowelled PCP - D

Base formats - 1
 Jointed reinforced (JRCP)
It is often asked - Can I avoid all these joints?
Yes, but once the slab length is more than about 5m, you must
expect some cracking
To stop crack from further opening, reinforcement is required
Basis for JRCP

mesh reinforcement

8 - 15 m typ.

Jointed reinforced dowelled concrete pavement JRCP - D

bar reinforcement

1 - 2.5 m typ.
 Cracking in JRCP
Cracks are expected to happen in JRCP
Cracks do not equal failure
Longitudinal joints

Not designed for movement

Tied (not doweled)

Some allowance for rotation

Weakened plane (sawn), or

formed construction joints
Formed longitudinal joint
Keyways were
discontinued 35 years ago

Top of female element is

prone to breaking/spalling

Replaced by corrugated
tied joints
Current practice
Corrugated joint
 Longitudinal joint
NSW country town street built 1940s
No joint down centre so it made its own
 Isolation joints

Isolation joints, not be confused with expansion

joints, are required in situations where conflict may
arise between two concrete elements.
Two typical situations in a road are:
At an intersection. The two intersecting roads will
tend to move longitudinally in conflicting directions
Where a pit or other road penetration is either at the
pavement edge or within the pavement
Isolation joints
 Isolation joint
Pit intruding from kerb into pavement
Isolate pit from pavement
Thickened edge slab reinforced (precaution)
 Isolation joint
Full depth gap, no need for more than about 10mm
Filler and sealant
No load transfer capacity subgrade beam required
Concrete Pavements for Local Government

Dowels & tiebars

Dowels and tiebars they are different

Dowels
Joint able to move

Short thick smooth

Alignment is critical

Tiebars
Joint tied

Long and thin deformed bar for anchorage

Alignment important but not critical

 Dowel support
Dowels in transverse contraction joints must be
supported by baskets/cages so that:

They maintain dowel alignment

They are not disturbed by the paving operation from

pre-set position

Nothing but the dowel crosses the intended joint line

to avoid any restriction on joint movement
 Dowel alignment

Joint must be able to

open/close

Dowel alignment is critical

Must be parallel to :
Each other
Road centreline
Pavement surface
 Dowel debonding
debonding coating to one half length + min 25mm
debonding must debond and stay on during paving
debond additional 25mm to allow for construction
sawcut tolerance

intended joint line

Dowels out of line what happens?

Joint locked up
Crack may form near back-end
of dowels, not at joint

May have to remove and

rebuild whole of this area
not a good move
The force applied to dowel cages by concrete is
significant
 Tiebars in longitudinal joints
Long deformed bar for anchorage
Thin bar (12mm) to allow some curling
Located mid depth
Same for sawn or formed joint
Spacing depends on the width and thickness of the
tied slabs
 Typical tiebar arrangement

4.2m

200 mm 4 bars @ 1050 mm

min 300mm
to avoid joint
Tiebars in longitudinal joints

Good alignment
and depth
location

Tie bars left out

near transverse
joints to allow
them to open
and close
Now were ready to start paving!

Questions?
 Slipform paver

Track sensors cannot predict a bump, hollow or soft spot.

They can only react bump in pavement likely.
For both fixed form and slipform paving,

forms and tracks need

continuous + even + firm

surface support

for a good surface profile

 Mesh reinforcement
DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO
Place mesh on the ground, and then lift it up
into placed concrete

Place concrete, and then stamp the mesh

down into it

Believe it or not, it happens!