State Of The Art Report On Precast Concrete Pavements

"This publication is a combination of four documents on the use of precast concrete pavement systems (PCPS) and constitutes a state of the art report on this topic. The documents were developed through a cooperative agreement between the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, PCI and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The topics include: Applications for Precast Concrete Pavements, Design and Maintenance of Precast Concrete Pavements, Manufacture of Precast Concrete Pavement Panels and Construction of Precast Concrete Pavement."--Publisher's website.

This report represents nearly 6 years of collaboration among Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), State, and American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) engineers on the subject of Fastrack Concrete Paving. As an outgrowth of activities begun in 1986 in Storm Lake, Iowa, a Technical Working Group (TWG) assembled under the auspices of the FHWA's Special Project 201. Since the first meeting in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1988, the TWG has cooperated to construct pilot projects, test concrete material with the FHWA's mobile laboratory, sponsor workshops and conferences nationwide, simulate exercises on urban project designs, complete ACPA's Technical Bulletin on Fastrack, and support follow-on research. This report formally completes activities carried out under SP-201. It presents key information on opening-to-traffic criteria and pavement slab temperature management. It includes a summary of key projects built around the country in the last 6 years. It also includes a copy of ACPA's new bulletin and closes with reprints of several technical reports that may be of interest to the reader.

This report from the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, provides guidance on the design, fabrication, construction, and maintenance of precast concrete pavement (PCP) systems. It includes an assessment of the state of the practice for PCP technology as well as guidelines for pavement selection, the decision-making process, and model specifications for PCP systems.

The general objectives of this research are to (1) investigate and analyze the current state- of-the-art, (2) examine and possibly improve the current design features, (3) perform structural analysis to evaluate pavement performance and limitations, (4) conduct laboratory tests to examine and verify proposed improvements and analysis results, (5) investigate means to make precast pavement more durable and economical.

"TRB's second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Report S2-R05-RR-1: Precast Concrete Pavement Technology reviews the available precast concrete pavement (PCP) systems; summarizes PCP applications; and offers suggested guidelines for the design, fabrication, installation, and selection of PCP systems. " -- Publisher's description.

The state of the art of Portland cement concrete pavement evaluation is reviewed with emphasis on the methods applicable to the urban freeway environment. Methods are recommended for texture evaluation, void detection and condition surveys. Data analysis methods useful for the development of pavement performance models are presented. The overall framework for life cycle cost (LCC) analysis is described with recommendations for the development of a LCC method for the Arizona Department of Transportation.