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What is the function of longitudinal joints in concrete road pavements?

A longitudinal joint consists of a tie bar placed at the mid-depth of a concrete pavement and it is not intended for joint lateral movement. Then one may doubt the reasons of placing longitudinal joints in concrete pavements. In fact, longitudinal joints are normally designed at a regular spacing e.g. 4.5m to accommodate the effect of differential settlement of pavement foundation. When uneven settlement occurs, the tie bars in longitudinal joints perform as hinges (Ministry of Transport (1955)) which allow for the settlement of concrete carriageway. Moreover, it also serves to cater for the effect of warping of concrete due to moisture and temperature gradients by permission of a small amount of angular movement to occur so that stresses induced by restrained warping can be avoided.

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Dowel bars are provided in longitudinal joints for the following reasons:
(i) In case of the occurrence of uneven settlement between adjacent panels, it helps to maintain a level surface by transfer of loads through dowel bars.
(ii) Keep the longitudinal joints close.

This question is taken from book named – A Self Learning Manual – Mastering Different Fields of Civil Engineering Works (VC-Q-A-Method) by Vincent T. H. CHU.

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Kanwarjot Singh

Kanwarjot Singh is the founder of Civil Engineering Portal, a leading civil engineering website which has been awarded as the best online publication by CIDC. He did his BE civil from Thapar University, Patiala and has been working on this website with his team of Civil Engineers.

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2 comments on "What is the function of longitudinal joints in concrete road pavements?"

Hamoudis-sh- says:

Can we use longitudinal expansion joint type thickened for roads with width more than 16 foot

Ghulam Rabani Mobariz says:

Dear Sir,
i am Civil engineer Ghulam Rabani Mobariz i hope your help me to course of Civil Engineering material.
thanks

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