Field Investigations on Injection Method for Sealing Longitudinal Reflective Cracks

Abstract

This paper presents a field investigation that was conducted to evaluate a crack injection method. The process was proposed for sealing longitudinal cracks (LCs) that had appeared on the surface of a newly constructed highway with composite pavement. The main issue of the procedure was to restore the structural integrity of the affected areas and close the cracks to prevent water ingress into the pavement. A secondary aim was to provide a simple process that would be the most economical for repairing this kind of distress. A number of tests, such as falling weight deflectometer (FWD) and coring samples, were performed after the repair work to provide quality assurance of the injection filling of cracks. Furthermore, the repaired zones were monitored for 3 years to verify the efficiency of the sealing, and results were compared with various other treatment methods executed under the same environmental conditions. Investigation results showed practical effects improving the pavement layer stiffness, and a general profitability of the process even under traffic, without necessitating the closing of the highway. The results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of such treatment and its competitive cost for repairing the pavement by strengthening the existing structure using injection.