Rigid pavement can be constructed with contraction joints, expansion joints, dowelled joints, no joints, temperature steel, continuous reinforcing steel, or no steel. Most generally, the construction requirements concerning these options are carefully chosen by the owner or the public entity that will be responsible for future maintenance of the pavement. The types of joints and the amount of steel used are chosen in concert as a strategy to control cracking in the concrete pavement. Often, the owner specifies the construction requirements but requires the designer to take care of other details such as intersection jointing details and the like. It is imperative that a designer understand all of these design options and the role each of these plays in concrete pavement performance.
The category of rigid pavements can be further broken down into those with joints and those without. Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP) and jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) are the two basic types of jointed concrete pavement. Continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) has no joints. JRCP is designed for maximum joint spacing permitting cracking between joints and requires temperature steel. JPCP is designed for no cracking between joints; thus, joint spacing is minimized and temperature steel is eliminated. Historically, many jointed pavements were constructed without dowelled joints. Past performance of undowelled jointed pavements— with the exception of warm, dry climates or low-volume roadways—has been poor. Where there are more than a few trucks per day, dowels should be considered at contraction joints. However, low-volume roadways that do not carry significant trucks, such as residential streets, may perform satisfactorily without dowelled joints.
