CRCP-THE HIGH PERFORMANCE PAVEMENT

By: Richard B. Rogers, PE
Under an interagency contract with TxDOT, Dr. Moon Won with Texas Tech University, conducted an analysis of the performance history of continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) to support life cycle cost analysis calculations.  On average a 30 year-old CRCP was found to have only 1.5 distresses per lane mile ("terminal condition" for CRCP is generally considered to be five to ten distresses per lane mile).  So, CRCP truly is the high performance pavement!

​It should be noted that this analysis was based on information contained in the TxDOT Pavement Information  System (PMIS) and includes pavements with designs that would not be allowed today.  In older designs, TxDOT allowed CRCP to be built directly on a crushed stone sub-base and without concrete shoulders. These pavements were prone to pumping and edge failures otherwise known as punchouts.  Newer TxDOT design standards incorporate stabilized sub-bases and tied concrete shoulders, which improve pavement performance significantly.
"This blog was previously posted in the Cement Council of Texas' "Texas Cement and Concrete Blog" (now inactive) and was carried forward to the current blog ("Cementx Pavement Blog") as it contains content that may be of interest to the reader".