Effect of Frozen Support on Concrete Pavement Performance - Interim Report

A field program of strain and deflection measurements was conducted by the Construction Technology Laboratories for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The objective of the measurement program was to evaluate the effect of frozen support, tied concrete shoulder, and tridem-axle loading on concrete pavement performance. Results of the investigation are reported separately for each of the three topics. Results of the tied concrete shoulder and tridem-axle loading studies are given in References 1 and 2, respectively.

Minnesota's current concrete pavement design procedure does not consider climatic effects. When the base, subbase, and subgrade are frozen, pavement strains and deflections due to load are smaller. Therefore, traffic induced damage during winter months is greatly reduced. Since concrete pavement design procedures consider repeated application of traffic loading and fatigue damage. It should be possible to take advantage of the frozen support conditions in the design of concrete pavements.