Structural Performance Evaluation of Interlocking Concrete Pavement Crosswalk Designs

Abstract

Interlocking Concrete Pavements (ICP) have been successfully used in many pavement applications all across the world. ICP design and analysis methods, construction practices and materials specifications have been developed. However, there is very limited field data to quantify structural performance with respect to traffic and environmental loadings. The interaction between traffic loadings and environmental factors needs to be explored in order to improve relationships between pavement performance and response. Pavement performance prediction in terms of fatigue cracking and surface rutting are essential for any mechanistically-based pavement design method. The estimation of the expected fatigue performance in the field is based on the quantification of the maximum tensile strain in bound base layers and the expected rutting performance is based on maximum vertical stress/strain in granular layers. This thesis presents an innovative research project involving the design, construction, instrumentation, performance modeling and distress evaluation of seven ICP crosswalks with four different design assemblies. The research projects were constructed at the Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology (CPATT) test track and at the University of Waterloo ring road. Each of the test sections is instrumented with structural and environmental sensors of sensors to monitor the pavement performance under heavy truck traffic, typical municipal loadings and to quantify environmental effects. A database is generated and the measured stress, strain, temperature and moisture measurements are analysed to evaluate the expected long-term performance of the structural components of ICP crosswalk designs.