Performance of Dowel Bar Retrofitted Concrete Pavement Under HVS Loading

The California Department of Transportation uses Dowel Bar Retrofit (DBR) as a rehabilitation strategy for concrete pavements. Two test sections were dowel bar retrofitted and a third section was designated for control on US 101 near Ukiah, California. All three sections were subjected to accelerated pavement testing using the Heavy Vehicle Simulator (HVS). The HVS results demonstrated a large improvement in load transfer efficiency (LTE), and decreases in maximum vertical deflections and vertical deflection differences from DBR. LTE was not damaged by trafficking on the DBR sections and was less sensitive to temperature changes than the control section. Falling Weight Deflectometer testing showed damage to interlock at the joint on the control section and no damage on the DBR sections. Joint/crack deflections and deflection differences increased with trafficking. A total equivalent loading of approximately 11,000,000 equivalent single axle loads was applied to each of the DBR sections without failure occurring.