Mitigating Joint Reflective Cracks using Stone Interlayers: Case Study on Louisiana Highway 5, Desoto Parish

The purpose of this research is to monitor the effectiveness of stone interlayers in composite pavements, determine the depth of stone required to prevent reflective cracking at the joints, and measure the movement of the concrete joints under traffic loading. Five test sections, 1000 ft. in length each, will be constructed with stone interlayers ranging in depth from 9 to 21 inches. The control section has an average stone interlayer thickness of 5 inches. On this project, both transverse and longitudinal crack control will be of interest with the transverse cracks occurring due to movement at the joint and longitudinal cracks due to widening the existing Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) lanes with asphalt concrete.