1

National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar

School of Engineering & Technology
M. Tech. Forensic Structural Engineering
Semester -II, 2020-2021
Evaluation, Repair & Rehabilitation Of Structures
(RDMCE10)
Subject: Evaluation, Repair and Rehabilitation of Rigid Pavements

Prepared by: Gandhi Sagar Hitesh

101EGMTCE2021002
Pavement Quality Concrete 2
 PQC is a concrete designed for M40 grade or more, made with large size
aggregates in accordance with IRC specifications and is laid over a dry lean
concrete base course.
 It is suitable for heavy traffic volume and mostly for construction of National
Highway. Concreting is suggested to be done with the help of Automatic pavers.
Pavement Evaluation Procedures and Methods 3
 Pavement condition evaluation is the key to determine proper routine maintenance
activities. It is needed to validate the extent of distress-related damage, quality of
drainage, relative base/subgrade layer strength, need of repair/maintenance. The
pavement distress condition is considered relative to functional and structural
performance in the decision process.
 The activities included in a pavement evaluation will vary from project to project,
depending on the type of project and its relative significance. Generally, the overall
pavement evaluation process can be broadly divided into:
o Historical data collection and records review
o Initial site visit and assessment
o Field testing activities
o Laboratory materials characterization
o Data analysis
o Final field evaluation report
Cont… 4
 The following evaluation techniques are recommended for strategic routine
maintenance decisions:
o Visual Survey
o Falling Weight Deflectometer
o Ground Penetrating Radar
o Core Testing
o Magnetic Imaging Tomography
Visual Condition Survey 5
o Visual survey is a simple method of inspecting the
pavement for detecting and assessing the type
and severity of the damage/distress by the means
of basic human senses of sight, touch & hearing.
Although slow and tedious, it is the most reliable
method.
o Visual condition is conducted from a vehicle
driven over the pavement and a manual survey
conducted by walking to map the type, severity,
and extent of distress along the sections.
o Lastly, a drainage assessment determines the
moisture intrusion into the pavement structure
contributing factor to the distress. Particular
attention to be paid to check the functioning of
the drainage outlets.
Cont… 6
o Visual survey requires the collection of a considerable amount of data about the
pavement condition, location, climate, and so on. These data can be divided into
the following major categories:
o General information about pavement, materials, age, climate
o Riding quality and other functional conditions
o Identification of distressed areas and causes
o Visual surveys or any other assessments done in past
o Whereabouts of past repair locations, methods used, etc.
o Condition of joint or crack sealing
o Surface and subsurface drainage condition
o Requirements and possible locations for FWD, GPR
Chain Dragging & Hammer Sounding 7
o Chain dragging and hammer sounding determines
delaminated or unsound concrete. A technician
performs this by dragging a chain and listening to the
resulting sound to locate delaminated areas of
pavement, coring, to determine the severity of
deterioration, and coring near and away from joints
to test for durability, before specific repairs are
decided upon.
o If the resulting sound from the drag or sounding
instrument is a metallic ring, the concrete is
essentially sound.
o If the sound is muffled or dull, there is a high
probability of unsound concrete or localized
delamination and should be mapped.
Falling Weight Deflectometer 8
o The FWD is a NDT used to assess the
structural capacity of pavement by
measuring its deflection under the
dynamic loads, by dropping weights
onto a series of buffers that transfer the
force to a circular loading plate that sits
on the pavement surface.
o Deflection testing using FWD can
evaluate the structural condition of
pavement such as layer stiffness, loss of
support below the slab.
o The areas selected from the checklist of
visual survey needs to be evaluated
relative to structural capacity for such
stiffening measures as load transfer
retrofitting.
Ground-Penetrating Radar 9
o Ground-penetrating radar utilizes radar pulses to
locate pavement layers, embedded steel, and the
presence of underlying voids. Different frequencies of
waves can be transmitted for different results. Lower
frequency waves improves depth of exploration, but
results in a loss of resolution. High frequency waves
can give better results but they travel superficially.
o The time and amplitude of the reflected wave pulse
are used as basic principle. As the pavement layer
thickness increases, the time duration of the
reflected wave pulse increases.
o Identification of materials work on the di-electric
constants (the ability of the material to transmit the
waves) of the individual layers the waves pass
through.
Core Testing 10
o Core testing is the most common field sampling method, which
is the process of cutting cylindrical material samples from a
pavement. Coring is accomplished with the use of a hollow,
cylindrical, diamond-tipped core barrel attached to a rotary
core drill, often used to determine layer types and thicknesses,
as well as to provide samples for strength testing.
o A visual inspection of cores can also provide valuable
information when trying to assess the causes of distress or poor
pavement performance. Cores are particularly useful at
identifying material consistency problems such as honey-
combing in concrete.
o Cores are commonly cut with 50, 100, or 150 mm Ø. Strength
testing is most commonly conducted on 100 mm Ø cores;
however, a 150 mm Ø core is recommended when the
maximum aggregate size is greater than 38 mm.
Magnetic Imaging Tomography 11
o MIT emits an electromagnetic pulse and detects
the induced magnetic field accurately and
nondestructively determines the location of
either dowel bars or tie bars in the pavement,
horizontal and vertical misalignments and
determines the pavement thickness.
o MIT consists of three components: a sensor unit,
an onboard computer, and a rail system. Electro-
magnetic pulses are sent out from the sensor unit
as it glides along the rail system over the joint and
identifies the induced magnetic field. Data that is
collected during the testing is stored in the
memory card equipped in the onboard computer.
Surface Defects 12
o Minor deformities or imperfections that are limited to the surface
of a concrete pavement are often referred to as surface defects.
o These defects include map cracking (crazing), plastic shrinkage
cracking, scaling, surface polishing, surface wear, and pop-outs or
mortar flaking. These distresses typically do not affect significantly
the structural integrity immediately but on a long run. They can
have an impact on its functional performance and aesthetic appeal.
The affected area is measured in terms of m² or ft².
 Causes:
o Overworking of concrete surface in presence of bleed water
o Late or inadequate curing
o Rapid evaporation
o Freeze-Thaw action
o Use of reactive aggregates with poor abrasion resistance
Prevention, Treatments & Repairs 13
o Transverse cracks due to shrinkage can be avoided at the construction stage itself, by
providing saw-cuts of depth H/3 within 8-24 hours at appropriate locations.
o Longitudinal shrinkage cracks can also occur when the width of slab is more than 3.5 mt
and if saw cuts are not provided or their depths are inadequate.
o During the construction, moisture control plays a large role in occurrence of such
cracks, so the locally available curing compounds should be used as the fist time curing.
o Mist sprayers around the freshly laid concrete keeps the air above the layer moist and
thus prevents the evaporation of the water in early stage
o Minute surface cracks caused by plastic shrinkage and very shallow in nature are better
to be left untouched as they do not affect the structural integrity.
o When cracks are not wider than 0.5-1 mm, they can be cleaned by wire brush and sealed
by epoxy or grout directly. Grooving such shallow cracks makes the scenario even
worse.
o Wider old/dead cracks can be grooved by easily available grooving equipment and
sealed in with grout or epoxy.
Cont… 14
 High Molecular Weight Methacrylate (HMWM):
o HMWM is an adhesive compound with low viscosity, so it achieves excellent
penetration into cracks and can serve to strengthen the concrete by filling the crack
and bonding it together. It can be used to seal fairly deep shrinkage cracks in
concrete pavements and bridge decks.

 Diamond Grinding:
o Diamond grinding involves the removal of a thin layer (4-6 mm) of hardened
concrete pavement surface using a self-propelled machine fitted with a series of
closely spaced diamond saw blades. It restores or improves ride quality, surface
texture and reduces noise. It should be performed after any other appropriate
rehabilitation activities; partial-depth or full-depth repair, but before any surface
treatment methods.
Cont… 15
 Slab Replacement:
o Slab replacement involves the complete removal and replacement of the concrete
slab, and would likely be appropriate and feasible only in the case when the
deterioration is extremely severe and present over a large part of the slab.
Surface Delamination 16
o Delamination in concrete pavements may be viewed as the development of a horizontal
crack within the slab that results in separation of the surface layer to a depth of 20 to 50
mm from the remaining concrete.
o Delamination may be limited or widespread depending on the basic cause of the
separation. Usually delamination is seen adjacent to joints.

 Causes:
o Inferior materials, weak bond; usually in 2-lift concrete pavement
o Frequent curl-warp actions, freeze-thaw actions
o Poor placement such as non-uniform mix, strength, discontinuous operations
o Inadequate compaction, too much evaporation, wind, humidity
o Finishing before evaporation of bleed water, poor curing
Prevention, Treatments & Repairs 17
 Milling:
o Milling is a procedure for the preparation/treatment of a concrete surface for
receiving a bonded overlay. Standard milling machines with 300 mm or 450 mm
wide cutting heads are efficient and economical particularly when used for large
areas, full lane-width repairs. The milling operation results in a rounded pit. The
borders shall be made vertical by sawing or jack hammering or chiseling.
 Overlay:
o A concrete overlay may be adopted if the
delamination is widespread and the
delaminated concrete will require milling
to remove loosened concrete. If the
existing rigid pavement is structurally
weak, based on the prevailing traffic or
the wearing surface needs improvements
in riding quality, an overlay over rigid
pavements is generally laid.
Material Related Distresses 18
o Material related distresses occur in concrete pavements as the
result of the properties of the materials and their interaction
with the environment. MRDs in concrete pavements are
noticeable by number of closely spaced cracks, often with stains.
Visual inspection alone cannot confirm the presence of MRD,
laboratory testing of pavement core samples is required to
confirm the mechanisms to the distress.
o Durability or D-cracking is a distress associated with the
freezing and thawing of saturated, susceptible coarse aggregate
in the concrete. The distress typically forms at transverse joints
and not over the entire slab; furthermore, the deterioration also
occurs underneath the slab and can actually be more severe.
o Alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) describes chemical reactions
between susceptible aggregates and the alkali hydroxides in the
concrete, which can lead to cracking of the concrete matrix. AAR
is often a slow process; the deterioration can take several years
to develop and progress.
Prevention, Treatments & Repairs 19
 Partial-Depth Repair:
o PDR is one rehabilitation methods used to repair localized
deteriorated areas, but cannot be used for distresses of
the active nature. These repairs consist of removal of
concrete near the surface and replacing with an
acceptable patch material. Its effectiveness is limited to
smaller areas where the deterioration is confined to half
the depth of the concrete slab.
 Full-Depth Repair and Slab Replacement:
o FDR consist of the removal of isolated deteriorated areas
through the entire thickness of the existing slab and the
replacing with a concrete material. Coring can determine
the extent of deterioration and the size of patch that
would be required. It will not be cost-effective if repairs
are required for most every joint on a particular project or
if very short performance periods are being considered.
Cont… 20
 Concrete Overlay:
o Concrete overlays can be effective rehabilitation treatments for existing pavements
affected by MRD since their performance is less dependent on the condition of the
underlying pavement and act independently.
o These are essentially designed as new concrete pavements, and yet the need for
removal and disposal of the existing pavement is eliminated. However, severe cases
of MRD might lead to poor support conditions and significant expansion or
settlement that might limit the suitability of an unbonded overlay.
Longitudinal, Transverse & Diagonal Cracking 21
o Longitudinal & transverse cracking is oriented laterally
across the pavement and perpendicular to the pavement
centerline whereas diagonal cracking is oriented
obliquely across a slab, roughly at 30-60° angle from the
pavement centerline.
o Regardless of orientation, these types of cracks extend
through the entire thickness of the slab, unlike map
cracking or other surface cracking. Moreover, these
cracks can also develop in conjunction with one another,
resulting in shattered or broken slab; in which the slab
is divided into three or more pieces.
o There can be several reasons incorporated behind this
type of distress and the evaluation needs a larger view
to find the precise probable cause for this distress.
Cont… 22
 Causes:
o Chemical properties and quality of materials
o Volumetric/thermal changes due to temperature, humidity
or environmental factors
o Uneven settlement of the underlying foundation
o Poor compaction of the layers beneath
o Subgrade volume instability due to inferior soil
o Lack of saw-cuts joints formed, too early/late (before
evaporation of bleeding water/after hardening) or not deep
enough
o Sympathy cracks, when a saw-cut terminates up to adjacent
slab, it opens and closes due to temperature changes &
creates a tensile stress concentration at the face of the un-
cut slab that can result in cracking
Cont… 23
o Panels with greater width than length (either by design or a result of a longer panel
divided by other cracks), are vulnerable source to develop longitudinal cracking.
o The layout of joints at sharp, acute angles to one another, and mismatching joints
can lead to local stress concentrations and uncontrolled slab cracking.
Prevention, Treatments & Repairs 24
 Stress Relieving by forming additional Saw-Cuts:
o Formation of additional saw-cuts with the help of concrete
cutting saws are done to accelerate stress relief and stops the
formations of further cracks in the same plane.
 Dowel Bar Retrofit:
o In this process, new dowel bars shall be placed across the
cracks, making new slots. At least three bars in every wheel
track at 300-375 mm spacing are installed.
 Full-Depth Repair and Slab Replacement:
o FDR and slab replacement consist of the removal of isolated
deteriorated areas through the entire thickness of the existing
slab and replacement with a concrete material. It is
recommended to make new saw-cuts in the beginning to
prevent further deterioration.
Cont… 25
 Cross Stitching & Slot Stitching (longitudinal cracking):
o Cross stitching is to be used for cracks up to 3 mm wide and 1
mt long. Alternate inclined holes of Ø 36-45 mm are drilled at
30-40° at 500-750 mm spacing, and 1.7 × slab thickness deep.
Holes are cleaned and filled with epoxy resin to coat the bar
when inserted. Epoxy-coated HYSD bar of Ø 12-16 mm is then
placed in each hole. The cracks are then grooved and filled with
low viscosity epoxy mortar.
o In slot stitching, perpendicular slots are cut using a cutter,
cleaned, and inserted with HYSD bar of Ø 16-20 mm. The slots
are then filled with very low shrinkage material and the surface
is finished.
o Cross stitching is less intrusive and less damaging and aesthetic
is also saved as only drilled circular holes are visible on surface.
o After crack stitching, it is important to treat and seal the
nearest longitudinal joint, if damaged, to prevent intrusion of
Corner Cracking 26
o Corner cracking/break is a full-depth fracture in a
concrete pavement that occurs near the adjacent joint.
They intersect the joints at an angle of approx. 45° with
the direction of traffic. The lengths of the sides are less
than half the width of the slab on each side of the corner.
 Causes:
o Fatigue due to heavy vehicle loads on the corner of poorly
supported pavement
o Differential deflection with poor load transfer due to
inadequate working of longitudinal/transverse joint.
o Free water at base/subbase cause spalling or erosion of mat
 Prevention, Treatments & Repairs:
o FDR is the only proven and accepted repair strategy, by
removal and replacement of the isolated distress through
entire thickness and lane or half-lane-width with provision
of additional dowels.
Joint & Crack Spalling 27
o Joint and crack spalling is deterioration of the cracking,
chipping, or fraying of the edges of the transverse and
longitudinal joints and cracks. The spalling may develop
predominantly in the top few inches of the slab, or may
develop at a greater depth below the surface, depending on
the environmental conditions, eventually reaching full
pavement depth.
o Spalling problems include loose debris on the pavement,
shallow vertical drops, and roughness, and can be
expanded both in width and depth through continuous
deterioration.
 Causes:
o Spalling from freeze-thaw damage in cold weather to
saturated joints with low air entrainment content
(<5%) and being exposed to high concentrations of
deicing chemicals
Cont… 28
o Damage of resulting in thin flakes of mortar that form
parallel to the exposed face and the loss of the
damaged paste that leaves the remaining aggregate.
o Accumulation of water in base/subbase due to poor
drainage condition can cause settlement and corrosion
to reinforcement
o Transverse joints without rebars are deflected by heavy
vertical loads and the top of the slabs will bear on each
other and the joint can crush if it is tight.
o Sawing too early (before/during setting) can cause the
saw blade to pull out aggregate particles from the mix.
The rough edge leads to entrapment of water and
foreign particles, which causes spalling, when shallow
placed reinforcement.
o Misaligned placement of rebars can lock up the joint,
making it ineffective.
Prevention, Treatments & Repairs 29
 Partial-Depth Repair:
o PDR followed by diamond grinding should be adopted when the distress is limited
up to the top one-half of the pavement depth. Core test is recommended before
taking up the repair work to know the exact cause and the damage in the layers
beneath.
 Full-Depth Repair and Slab Replacement:
o When spalling has reached a width greater than 6 inches, the chance of the depth of
the deterioration exceeding half the pavement thickness is much greater.
 Unbonded Concrete Overlay on Concrete:
o UBCOC is a proper minor rehabilitation technique for a high severity spalling
distressed pavement. A separation layer consisting of a geotextile fabric is placed
between the existing concrete pavement and the new unbonded concrete overlay.
The separation layer prevents bonding and thus eliminates reflective cracking.
Faulting & Pumping 30
o Faulting is the difference in elevation across a joint or crack in
a pavement due to loss of load transfer.
o Faulting may occur due to differential base support, non-
uniform base materials, compaction/settlement of subbase
materials. It may also occur due to loss of load transfer from
corrosion of the dowel system, panel movement causing loss
of contact between non-doweled panels.
o Faulting increases with time and continues to degrade the
ride while dynamic traffic loading initiates cracking and
spalling of the concrete pavement joints/cracks.
 Causes:
o Faulting occurs due to breakdown of load transfer. This
shear failure initiates the faulting process.
o Cracks provide an opening in the concrete which allows
water to enter the subgrade and erosion begins which
later results in faulting.
Cont… 31
o Pumping is the expulsion of subgrade soil/base, and water
due to traffic through a pavement joint, crack or
pavement/shoulder edge resulting in lack of load transfer
from loss of subgrade support and thus leads to faulting.
o As the slab rebounds, a void is left under the joint/crack
and pavement faulting develops from lack of uniform
support.
o Sources of free water in the pavement include water
infiltrating through cracks and transverse joints in the
pavement, longitudinal pavement/shoulder joints, water
from ditches and medians, and a high groundwater table.
Prevention, Treatments & Repairs 32
 Stabilization/Jacking:
o The soil stabilization process includes pumping a
cement-grout material into the voids formed by
lack of support to re-establish pavement support.
Cement grout material is pumped through a
number of injection holes drilled into the concrete.
Additional pumping pressure may be required to
jack and carefully lift the panel so that the elevation
of both panels coincide.
 Load Transfer Restoration:
o The lost load transfer is restored by cutting slots in
pavement, preparing the slots and placing dowel
bars into them. The dowel bars are set on chairs to
ensure horizontal and vertical alignment at mid-
panel depth. The slots are then backfilled.
Blowups 33
o A blowup is a result of localized upward movement of a slab
along a transverse joint or crack. Blowups often occur in the
heat of the day as expansion results in a buildup of pressure
that can be dramatically released as the pavement thrusts
upwards. Two adjacent slabs expand simultaneously beyond
its limits and starts making an inclined plane for more room
of expansion, thus it causes thrust in weakest sections.
 Causes:
o Pavements affected by freeze-thaw action or AAR undergo
expansion that later leads to blowups.
o The opening of joints will widen up in winters and will
allow the infiltration of material if not properly sealed.
These materials prevents the joint from closing
adequately during summer, resulting in sufficient stress to
produce blowups.
Prevention, Treatments & Repairs 34
 Treatment of AAR distress:
o There are no strategies to cure AAR except FDR. As a short-term measure, pressure
relief joints should be installed to specifically relieve the buildup of compressive
stress. To prevent blowups in adjoining lanes, pressure relief joints should be to the
full width of the entire roadway.
 Treatment of incompressible materials:
o Incompressible materials in joints can only be treated by cleaning the joints and
resealing them. Joint cleaning and resealing should be done as soon as materials are
observed in joints, and ideally prior to the development of blowup.
 Full-Depth Repair:
o Repair boundaries must be selected to cover the entire distressed area under FDR.
The transverse joints of the repair should be dowelled to the existing pavement and
sealed properly to prevent such cases in future.
Subgrade/Base settlement & Heave distresses 35
o Settlements and heaves affect ride quality and long-term
pavement performance, and are considered to be functional
distresses in all cases.
o Settlements can be described as localized downward slab
displacements, while heaves are defined as upward localized
slab displacements and cause random cracking.
o Unlike faulting, traffic loadings do not influence settlement or
heaving.
 Causes:
o Due to an inadequate drainage system, water penetrates
through many means and will get collected in a zone
below the pavement. This results in saturation, loss of
strength, erosion of base material, and thus, pavement
distresses such as settlement and heaves, and
subsequently, cracking occurs.
o Inadequately compacted base/subbase will worsen the
scenario as it will lead to localized support consolidation.
Prevention, Treatments & Repairs 36
 Retrofitting of Drainage:
o In this technique, the use of edge drains or other types of retrofit drainage systems
may be applicable but majorly varies on project-by-project basis. A primary purpose
of the drainage system in this instance is to intercept the water migrating from sand
or other sources to the susceptible soil. .
 Full-Depth Repair & Slab replacement:
o In FDR for settlement/heaves, the subgrade and base materials should be removed
and replaced, or re-compacted to address the cause of the problem. Settlements and
heaves may involve multiple slabs or a series of isolated slabs. In either case, the
subgrade, base issues, and drainage need to be addressed.
 Joint & Crack Sealing with Slab Jacking:
o In order to minimize the effects of moisture induced distress, the joints and cracks
should be maintained by application of a suitable joint sealant. This is not a long-run
solution and shall not be adopted without slab jacking and lifting to lift localized
settlements in the pavement.
Crack Sealing 37
 This is a frequently applied preventive repair technique used
as a part of periodic maintenance. If the edges of the crack are
severely spalled, the slab should be cut 30 mm deep on both
sides of the crack at a distance of 10-12 mm each side. The
concrete is removed between the cuts and the crack is filled
with a fine epoxy resin mortar. Different methods to seal and
patch cracks are as:
o Gravity application of low viscosity Epoxy Resin:
Cracked is first cleaned by blasting and a low viscosity, free
flowing, fast curing epoxy resin is applied by gravity into
cracks 0.5-5 mm wide to secure broken concrete together.
o Epoxy Resin Injection:
The resin is injected at high pressure in previously bored
holes along the crack and fills the crack and the interface of
the slab with the sub-base if the pressure is maintained for a
long period. The broken slab is thus secured together and
better supported by the sub-base.
Joint Resealing 38
 Over the time all types of joint sealants suffer distress. They
lose flexibility, bond to the walls of the joint groove and may
crack. The sealant may be subject to very harsh conditions.
Accordingly the material selected for joint sealing, shall be
capable of:
o Withstanding horizontal extension and compression and
vertical shear
o Withstanding climatic effects; weathering by UV rays in
some sealants, extreme temperatures and moisture
o Resisting penetration by stones and sand at high
temperatures
o Maintaining strong bond to concrete sidewalls at specified
temperatures.
 Joints shall be resealed to minimize both infiltration of runoff
water in the pavement and prevent the entry of foreign
incompressible material in the joint groove.
Cont… 39
 The service life of joints depends on the care taken to prepare the joint, install the
sealant and type of sealant. A typical hot-pour sealant provides an average of 2 to 3
years of life after proper installation. Some low-modulus or PVC and coal tars can
perform well past 8 years. Silicone sealants perform well for periods exceeding 10 to
12 years.
 Compression seals provide service exceeding 15-20 years. The most important
condition is that the joint be clean and dry when reapplying the sealant. Also, some
materials are unsuitable for bonding to fresh concrete and so technical advice should
be sought from sealant manufacturers regarding the recommended minimum concrete
age at the time of installation. Normally it is not before 21 days of paving.
 Joints sealants should be replaced when they are defective or reach the end of their
service life. Simply pouring new sealant in the old joint will not restore the latter. The
old joint shall be completely removed, the joint groove to be cleaned and groove walls
to be roughened and the new joint material properly placed, as per manufacture’s
instructions. This work must be performed under dry conditions and preferably
scheduled in the hotter months of the year.
Partial-Depth Repair 40
 Partial-depth patches are provided for majority of surface distresses at joints, cracks,
and mid slab locations that are within the upper half of the slab; i.e. repair of potholes,
pop-outs, corner breakage, edge breakage, joint spalling or any other type of surface
defect in rigid pavements.
 The standard methodology for partial depth repairs is:
o Identification & Marking out of Repair Boundaries
o Removal of affected concrete
o Cleaning & Preparation of Patch
o Application of Pre-coat/Primer/Bonding Agent
o Placing & Finishing of Repair material
o Application of Seal Coat
o Curing of Repair Patch
o Joint Re-sealing
o Allowance of Traffic
Full-Depth Repair 41
 This is the ultimate repair treatment. If this treatment does not succeed an overlay is to
be used either along or alone with full depth repair. Full depth repair may be considered
as the preferred repair option in the following situations:
o Partial depth repair has failed
o The cross-stitched longitudinal joint has again failed
o The crack which was less than D/2 has propagated more than D/2 or full depth
o The slab has shattered and can no longer support the load of traffic
o The spalling along the joint or crack is more than 50% depth of slab thickness
o The corner break is down to full depth
o Failure of pavement due to dowel bar locking and serious cracks along the joint
o Blow-up at expansion joint.
 FDR includes removing and replacing at least a portion of a slab as a whole. It improves
pavement surface evenness and structural integrity and extends the pavement service
life. The common problems that require FDR are cracking near the joints, joint
deterioration, blow-up and any cracking, breaking, or spalling of slab edges on either
side of a transverse or longitudinal joint.
Slab Stabilization 42
 Slab stabilization, also called undersealing or sub-sealing, is the method for raising
sunken slabs by pressure grouting under the slab after boring vertical holes for pressure
injection of the slurry. It is most often performed at areas where pumping or loss of
support has occurred. The most common materials are cement and fly-ash grouts, etc.
o Pressure Grouting:
Compressed air is blown in the drilled holes to remove water, particles, etc. under the
slab. Grout is injected in each hole at a pressure of 0.35 N/mm², until the void accept
no more grout or grout flows up through an adjacent hole or the slab begins to rise.
Excess grout upon completion is removed from the pavement surface. Injection holes
are cleaned and filled with cement or resin mortar.
o Vacuum Grouting:
Holes are plugged, surface is cleaned and vacuum channels are placed. Transparent
flexible plastic sheet is placed over the area on top of the vacuum channels and sealed.
Vacuum is applied and any water from the void beneath the slab is drawn off. With the
vacuum applied, puncture the plastic sheet at the injection holes and pour grout in
each hole. The hole is plugged as soon as grout begins to be drawn up.
References 43
 IRC SP-083 2018, Guidelines for Maintenance, Repair and Rehabilitation of
Cement Concrete Pavements, by Indian Roads Congress
 MoRT&H 5th-Specifications for Road & Bridge works
 Guide for Concrete Pavement Distress Assessments and Solutions,
Identifications, Causes, Prevention & Repair, by National Concrete Pavement
Technology Center & Iowa State University
 Concrete Pavement Repair, Manuals of Practice, by Strategic Highway Research
Program
 Integrated Materials And Construction Practices For Concrete Pavement: A
State-of-the-practice Manual, by National Concrete Pavement Technology Center
& Iowa State University
 Rigid Pavement Design Manual, by Pavement Management Section, Florida
 44

Thank You