Companion Guide to Video June 2018

Federal-aid Program Overview

Concrete Pavement (PCCP) Preservation

www.fhwa.dot.gov/federal-aidessentials

Preservation techniques to extend concrete pavement life.

With shrinking budgets, increasing traffic as minimizing costly and disruptive

volumes and loads, and the focus on rehabilitation and reconstruction
sustainability, the need has never been greater activities? And
for engineered strategies to preserve and • What does your agency do when it
maintain the nation's concrete pavement. encounters cracking, joint
Numerous national studies overwhelmingly deficiencies, surface defects, or
conclude that compared to conventional other distresses, such as water
overlay treatments, a long-term strategy of bleeding and pumping?
applying timely and appropriate preventative
maintenance treatments maintains good While the most effective preservation
pavement conditions for longer periods of time. treatment depends on local conditions—such as
traffic, weather patterns, pavement materials,
and the community’s perceptions and
expectations of a smooth ride—there are five
commonly used concrete pavement treatments.

With a large part of an agency’s budget going to

pavement maintenance, transportation
professionals must ask themselves:

• What preventative maintenance In order of worsening pavement condition and

treatments can be used on concrete the cost of the treatment, they are:
pavement?
• When are we applying them? • Joint resealing and crack sealing,
• How effective are our efforts in • Diamond grinding,
maintaining pavement condition as well • Grooving,
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

• Load-transfer restoration and cross

stitching, and Rough road surfaces from slab faulting or wheel
• Partial and full-depth repairs path rutting increase vehicle operating costs,
diminishes safety, and may lead to expensive
Let's review each treatment and then see how slab repairs in the future — especially where
one local agency applied these treatments on a water is present. Diamond grinding can address
maintenance project. these conditions. Diamond grinding removes a
thin layer of concrete—typically a quarter
inch—to restore smoothness and enhance tire
to surface friction.

Let’s begin with joint resealing and crack

sealing. When water and incompressible
materials enter joints and cracks that are not
sealed, the joints fill with debris and can cause Poor friction characteristics increases
corner breaks, spalling, faulting, substantial slab hydroplaning and related accidents. To
movements, and problems for the whole improve friction characteristics, grooving
pavement structure. creates narrow, discrete grooves in the
pavement surface to remove water from the
When a sealant, typically made from either contact surface.
modified asphalt or a silicone compound, is
placed in joints and cracks, it prevents water
and debris from entering. Limiting water
infiltration protects the underlying pavement
layers and reduces the detrimental effects of
cycles of freeze and thaw and subgrade
softening. The greatest benefit of joint sealing is
realized when the pavement is not severely
deteriorated.

Repeated heavy loads on roads can cause a

reduction of load-transfer efficiency between
pavement slabs, resulting in spalling, faulting,
and slab cracking. Load transfer restoration and
cross stitching are two treatments proven to
delay further deterioration of the concrete.
Load transfer restoration reinforces joints or
cracks with a dowel bar or other load-transfer
device; whereas cross stitching prevents crack
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

movement by locking two pieces of pavement

together. Load-transfer restoration and cross
stitching is most cost effective for larger
projects with numerous cracks since this is
highly specialized work.

At the start of the project, the project engineer

reviewed the road data compiled over the past
several years in the County’s pavement
management system.

On one mile of pavement, he discovered the

Where existing load-transfer devices are still county had not applied any preventative
functional but spalling and surface deterioration treatments over the last 40 years, and 5 percent
exist in the upper third of the slab, partial-depth of the segments had extensive cracking and had
repairs may be used. When applying this minor faulting.
treatment, look for repair and bonding material
based on overall effectiveness, cost, and the The remaining two miles were newer, and the
speed in which the materials cure so traffic can county had sealed cracks and joints regularly.
resume as quickly as possible. That section was in good shape structurally but
had minor slab faulting and rutting of the
surface.

In cases where deterioration exists below the

upper third of the slab, agencies may elect to
perform a full-depth repair or slab replacement.
While the timely and appropriate application of The engineer evaluated preservation treatment
this treatment can extend pavement options using the observed distresses and the
performance beyond ten years, it is costly. available budget. He concluded that the life of
the pavement could be extended for 7 to10
Now let’s see how one county applied some of years without substantial maintenance if:
these concrete pavement treatments to three
miles of a distressed concrete arterial roadway. • The slabs identified with extensive
cracking were removed and replaced.
Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

• Diamond grinding was used to restore

smoothness, and
• All joints and cracks were sealed

Agencies must make cost-effective decisions

and spend limited budgets wisely. An effective
preservation program helps achieve that goal
As the example illustrates, treatments do not but relies on the agency selecting the right
have to be mutually exclusive and are often treatment at the right time for the specific
combined in a preservation project. Such pavement condition. If some of the techniques
preventative treatments can highlighted here—crack and joint sealing,
diamond grinding and grooving, load transfer
• Prolong the life of concrete pavement, and cross stitching, and partial and full–depth
• Make effective use of available funding, repairs—are not in your agency’s tool box, look
and for additional information on how those
• Reduce the frequency of costly and treatments have helped other agencies
disruptive rehabilitation and effectively manage their pavement network.
reconstruction projects.
 Federal-aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies

The content of this

Additional Resources
document is not a
substitute for
• FHWA Policy Guidance Center page has technical information and guidance information obtained
materials for Pavement Preservation. from State departments
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pgc/index.cfm?ddisc=52&dsub=1014 of transportation,
• The FHWA published PCCP Preservation Guide book published in September appropriate FHWA
2014. Division Offices, and
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/concrete/pubs/hif14004.pdf applicable laws.
• A report with case studies of PCCP repair techniques compiled by the Scenarios have been
Missouri DOT in 2017 showing examples of application of multiple
simplified for emphasis
preservation methods for PCC Pavements.
https://library.modot.mo.gov/RDT/reports/TR201618/cmr17-013.pdf and do not necessarily
• See this FHWA Center for Accelerating Innovation (CAI) webpage for details reflect the actual range
of preservation techniques. of requirements
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/everydaycounts/edc_4/pavement.cfm applicable to the
• This pavement management guidance document provides the necessary scenario or this topic.
tools, procedures and practices for network-level pavement condition data This document was
collection.
created under contract
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/management/qm/data_qm_guide.pdf
• This website of the Foundation for Pavement Preservation provides a number DTFH61-13-A-
toolbox with links to research reports and details for the wide variety of 00001 by the Federal
preservation techniques. Highway Administration,
http://fp2.org/preservation-toolbox/ U.S. Department of
• Promotional brochure from FHWA effort to clarify when, where, and how of Transportation, and is
pavement preservation that can be distributed to stakeholders and offered to the public to
management.
heighten and focus
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/everydaycounts/edc_4/factsheet/pa
vement_preservation.pdf awareness of Federal-aid
requirements within the
local public agencies
community and
reinforces the
importance of these
necessary policies,
procedures, and
practices.

This Companion
Resource is the script
content for the video
production of the same
name.