United States Department of Transportation
i
Mechanistic-empirical design concepts for continuously reinforced concrete pavements in Illinois.
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2009-04-01
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Edition:Final report, July 2005-Dec. 2008
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Abstract:The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) currently has an existing jointed plain concrete pavement
(JPCP) design based on mechanistic-empirical (M-E) principles. However, their continuously reinforced concrete
pavement (CRCP) design procedure is empirical and based on a modified AASHTO nomograph for jointed
reinforced concrete pavement. The objective of this study was to develop and implement an M-E design
procedure that IDOT could use for routine CRCP design. The proposed procedure is based on mechanisticempirical
design principles taken largely from the models presented in NCHRP 1-37A and on work completed by
Dr. Dan Zollinger of Texas A&M University. The equations for calculating the mean crack spacing and the
number of punchouts per mile at the end of the design life for a given traffic volume, pavement layer and CRC
slab geometry, shoulder type, and layer material properties have been implemented in a user-friendly
spreadsheet. Several new developments in the proposed design process are fatigue damage accumulations at
the critical top and bottom location in the CRCP slab, equations for calculating the equivalent damage ratio for
several shoulder types and crack stiffness values, application of a strength reduction factor to the concrete
stress ratio calculated at the surface of the CRCP, and a new logistic-type punchout prediction model. Due to
the numerous measured and assumed input variables in this CRCP design framework, the mechanistic analysis
was calibrated against CRCP field performance data from Illinois and CRCP accelerated pavement test data
completed at the University of Illinois.
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