Reflective Crack Mitigation Strategies In Virginia - Performance Review

Project No: 122357

Target Completion Date: July 31, 2024 Pavements

About the project:

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) maintains 3,343 lane-miles of composite pavements (asphalt over jointed concrete or continuously reinforced concrete pavements).  Propagation of cracks from existing pavements into new asphalt concrete (AC) overlays (reflective cracking) is a major problem with composite pavements. VDOT has been trying various available treatment methods to delay or mitigate reflective cracking in rehabilitated pavements. While varying degrees of success were noticed in these techniques, there were no guidelines developed as to what approach to apply under what circumstances. Current practices of VDOT to manage reflective cracking in composite pavements can be improved with a procedure in place for evaluating the existing cracking condition and then selecting an appropriate treatment method through a decision-tree process. The proposed research would document Virginia's predominant strategies for addressing reflective cracking of asphalt over concrete pavements and document relative performance. A second objective would be to develop reflective cracking mitigation guidelines/options based on: (i) field performance of different techniques (ii) initial cost (iii) benefit-cost (iv) existing pavement distress/thickness (v) traffic conditions, and (vi) construction feasibility.

Project Team

Principal Investigators

Co-Principal Investigators

Last updated: December 10, 2023

Alert Icon

Please note that this file is not ADA compliant. Choose one of below options: