FINAL REPORT ON DESIGN PROJECT, MICHIGAN TEST ROAD

THIS REPORT COMPLETES THE RESEARCH PHASE OF THE DESIGN PROJECT ON THE MICHIGAN TEST ROAD, CONSTRUCTED IN 1940 BY THE MICHIGAN STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING CERTAIN PRINCIPLES IN CONCRETE PAVEMENT DESIGN- IN PARTICULAR, THOSE PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN JOINT SPACING AND CONSTRUCTION METHODS. THE REPORT CONTAINS CERTAIN MISCELLANEOUS PROJECT INFORMATION PERTAINING TO SOIL CONDITIONS, PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE, CLIMATE, AND TRAFFIC, WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FINDINGS. A TOTAL OF APPROXIMATELY 45,000 JOINT WIDTH MEASUREMENTS WERE MADE ON MORE THAN 850 JOINTS DURING THE 17-YEAR STUDY. SPECIAL ATTENTION HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF JOINT WITH MOVEMENT IN RELATION TO PAVEMENT TEMPERATURE, FOR EACH TEST SECTION. WITH THIS INFORMATION, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO COMPARE VARIOUS SECTIONS AND DETERMINE THE EFFECTS ON CONTRACTION JOINT WIDTH OF (1) EXPANSION JOINT SPACING, (2) INTERMEDIATE WARPING JOINTS, AND (3) CONTRACTION JOINT SPACING. THE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF INDIVIDUAL JOINT WIDTH MEASUREMENTS IS SHOWN FOR SHORT SLABS WITH 2,700-FT EXPANSION JOINT SPACING. THE PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE PAVEMENT SECTIONS IS DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF CRACKING, SPALLING, ROUGHNESS, AND JOINT FAULTING, IN ORDER TO RELATE THESE TO DESIGN FACTORS SUCH AS JOINT SPACING, PAVEMENT THICKNESS AND CROSS-SECTION, AMOUNT OF REINFORCEMENT, AND LOAD TRANSFER FEATURES AT JOINTS. FINAL OBSERVATIONS ARE ALSO GIVEN ON ONE OF THE INCIDENTAL STUDIES--STRESS CURED CONCRETE PAVEMENT. /AUTHOR/