Sealing the edge joints on concrete pavements with bituminous shoulders reduces the volume of water entering the pavement system by as much as 85 percent. Longitudinal edge joint sealing should be considered as a pavement preventive maintenance treatment.
This study was initiated to study methods, procedures and/or materials that may reduce premature pavement failures of an asphaltic concrete overlay on an existing bituminous road. The methods included in this study were asphalt additives in the wearing course, full coverage fabric, asphalt rubber interlayer (SAMI) and asphalt rubber seal coat (SAM). .
No material or method was found to totally eliminate reflective cracking. The test sections using softer asphalt (200-300 PEN) in the wearing course provided the best results, with the carbon black and sulfur additives minimizing the flushing that was prevalent in the 200/300 PEN control section.
