Joint Sealant Failure
If you have joint sealant failure, you need to perform:
Joint/Crack Resealing
Uncontrolled water ingress, especially water from a pavement’s surface, contributes to multiple types of pavement distress. It can lead to spalling, base or subgrade softening, dowel bar corrosion, pavement joint blow-ups and/or materials-related distress.
For many concrete pavements, proactively sealing or filling transverse and longitudinal joints and cracks to reduce water penetration improves long-term pavement performance. In addition to limiting the entry of water, joint sealing can reduce the entry of incompressibles into the joint reservoir that exert pressure on the pavement. Performed alone, joint resealing
is a maintenance activity. However, it is also an important part of the concrete pavement preservation (CPP) toolbox.
There are two basic approaches to joint treatment (other than leaving the joint open): joint filling and joint sealing. Joint sealing involves a foam backer rod and more rigorous preparation of a sealant reservoir than filling, which often involves simply filling up a diamond saw cut joint with sealant material after minimal preparation. Joint filling may be appropriate when the reservoir is narrow and difficult to prepare, but full adhesion of the filler may be difficult to achieve, resulting in less protection from moisture penetration. In CPP projects where joints have previously been sealed, resealing them is important.
See also our industry partner website Seal/No Seal to learn more about the benefits of sealing joints.
Resources
Tech Brief: Proper Joint Preparation Prior to Sealing and Resealing Concrete Joints
To seal or not to seal has been a strongly debated question for more than a quarter century. This debate has continued due to the variable performance of installed sealants and the inability to relate sealant condition to pavement performance. Joint sealing has been a process in constructing concrete pavements for over a hundred years, yet the challenge of quality installation continues. With the introduction of the OSHA PM10 regulations (29 CFR 1926.1153), this challenge has become even greater with the need to ensure environmental worker safety.
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Airport/Airfield, City/Municipal, Highway
Full & Partial Depth Repair
Structural/Material Issues
Tech Brief: The Use of Vacuums to Clean Sawed Pavement Joints
Sawing joints in concrete pavements potentially exposes workers to respirable crystalline silica dust which may increase the risk of health issues. OSHA has standards designed to protect workers from these risks: respirable Crystalline Silica Standard (29 CFR 1926.1153) and Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 910.134) among others. This Tech Brief is not intended to address the health risks, but instead to provide information on devices which can be used to minimize them.
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Airport/Airfield, City/Municipal, Highway
Full & Partial Depth Repair
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Tech Brief: Concrete Pavement Compression Seals
Compression seals were introduced in the early 1960s. They differ from liquid sealants because they are manufactured ready for installation and do not require field heating, mixing, or curing.
Polychloroprene (Neoprene) is the principal compound in compression seals. It is a synthetic rubber that provides excellent rebound pressure under compression. It is highly resistant to compression set, ozone, aging, sunlight and weathering, abrasion, gouging, oil, chemicals, rubber removal, and temperature extremes.
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Technical Brief
Airport/Airfield, Bridge, City/Municipal, Highway, Industrial
Concrete Pavement Preservation and Restoration, Joint and Crack Resealing
Evaluation of Backer Rod Absorption
Seal/No Seal (SNS) Tech Brief: This study was conducted as a result of concerns that backer rod absorption may be a contributing factor in premature joint deterioration. To evaluate this, a limited survey of contractor practices was conducted to determine the types of backer rods in use. A limited backer rod absorption study was then conducted to determine if they absorbed and retained water.
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Airport/Airfield, City/Municipal, Highway, Industrial, Race Track
Joint and Crack Resealing
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The Effect of Joints in Portland Cement Concrete Pavement
An experimental investigation was conducted by Purdue University to determine the effects of Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement joint width, fill condition and faulting on tire-pavement noise generation. Tire pavement noise generation due to pavement joints was found to be a strong function of joint width suggesting that in order to decrease noise levels it is necessary to construct pavements with the narrowest joint width practical.
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City/Municipal, Highway
Joint and Crack Resealing
Tire/Pavement Noise
Research of Test Methods to Evaluate Joint Preparation for Sealing
Seal/No Seal (SNS) Report: Wiess, Janney, Elsner Associates, Inc. (WJE) has completed research to develop practical field tests procedures that can measure and indicate when a sawcut joint is clean and dry enough to accept sealant. The intent of this test program was to develop reliable and practical test methods for assessing the cleanliness and moisture conditions in sawcut concrete joints to determine their preparedness for accepting sealants.
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Airport/Airfield, City/Municipal, Highway, Industrial, Race Track
Joint and Crack Resealing
Structural/Material Issues