The US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published a new TechBrief September, 2015 titled “Precast ConcretePavement Technology Resources”. This TechBrief provides an approach to develop structural pavement designs for jointed and prestressed PCP systems and provides a summary of the technical resources readily available to engineers and planners seeking to implement the use of PCP. Weblinks are provided for access to documents covering a wide range of PCP guidelines from panel design, fabrication and installation to project selection, PCP system acceptance, and model specifications.
The TechBrief offers:
RESOURCES … with a brief description of selected technical resources concerning PCP:
- SHRP2 R05 Reports
- PCP Implementation Plan
- Who is using PCPs
- FHWA’s PCP Marketing Plan
- FHWA Highways for LIFE (HfL) Program Reports
FHWA TECH BRIEFS 2009 Tech Brief and 2008 Tech Brief
INDUSTRY RESOURCES The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) published a report on PCP in 2012 to summarize the various aspects of using PCP. The report, which is available at the following weblink, PCI State-of-the-Art Report on Precast Concrete Pavements (PP-05-12), was developed through a cooperative agreement between PCI and FHWA. The four documents consolidated in the report 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. This document constitutes a state-of-the-art report on the use of PCP through 2012.
CALTRANS DESIGN REPORT
SUMMARY PCP technology is gaining wider acceptance in the US for rapid repair and rehabilitation of concrete pavements as well as for reconstruction of heavily trafficked asphalt concrete intersections. While widespread use of PCP technology in the US is of recent origin, with most projects in service less than about 14 years. In the US, PCP technology is being used for intermittent repairs (both full- depth repairs (FDR) and full panel replacement) and for continuous applications (longer-length/wider-area rehabilitation) with service life expectations of at least 20 years for repairs and at least 40 years for continuous applications—without significant future corrective treatment. Available PCP systems include jointed PCP with reinforced or prestressed panels installed singly or in a continuous series; and prestressed PCP that typically incorporates thinner panels installed and post-tensioned in a continuous series resulting in fewer joints.
The use of PCP technology can significantly reduce traffic impacts of roadway repair and reconstruction projects, particularly on heavily traveled routes. The technology is applicable to both small segments, enabling flexibility in construction phasing, as well as for use in corridor-wide pavement rehabilitation/reconstruction. The review of projects constructed in the US and field testing of selected projects indicate that sufficient advances have been made to reliably design and construct PCP systems to achieve five key attributes of successful pavements:
- Constructability
- Concrete durability
- Load transfer at joints
- Panel support
- Efficiency
To read the full TechBrief publication PDF, please click on the image or go to: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/concrete/pubs/hif15022.pdf.
Or, go to: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/pub_details.cfm?id=962.
Photo: Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) and Delaware DOT (DelDOT)