This checklist for joint and seal crack sealing of portland cement concrete is one in a series created to guide state and local highway preservation/maintenance and inspection staff on the use of innovative pavement preservation techniques. FHWA uses its partnerships with different pavement preservation organizations including American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and state and local transportation agencies to promote pavement preservation.

The primary purpose for sealing rigid pavement joints is to prevent or reduce the amount of water infiltrating into pavement structure. Effectiveness of joint sealants to protect jointed concrete pavement against water related distresses has been a focus of great interest recently. Results confirmed that if joint seals are properly installed, they can be very effective in preventing moisture infiltration and thus performance issues related to erosion damage. Unsealed joints had significantly higher flow rates compared to joints with varying degrees of damaged sealants.

Transverse joints in concrete pavements have been a noise source since the very beginning. Purdue University evaluated three joint related noise effects: faulting induced noise, the effect of joint opening width on noise, and the effect of joint sealant level recess or existence on noise. Although the three attempts at field validation could not successfully validate the Purdue joint sealing effects, they confirmed that sealing of the joints reduced overall noise levels.

With steady increase in asphalt prices over the years, the mill and overlay option is becoming far too expensive. Diamond grinding of pavement surfaces often meet and exceed the smoothness, friction and noise characteristics of the best asphalt surface treatments and can be half the cost of an asphalt overlay. The Buried Treasure concept using concrete pavement preservation (CPP) is a sound integration of engineering, economics and the environment.

Concrete pavement restoration (CPR) techniques have gained greater national significance as DOT agencies attempt to further extend infrastructure service lives prior to required major rehabilitation or reconstruction. This report consolidates best practice case studies for six CPR techniques: cross stitching, dowel bar retrofit, diamond grinding, full depth repair, partial depth repair and slab stabilization.

Seal/No Seal (SNS) Tech Brief: The two most common reactive sealers are siloxanes and silanes. Silanes are functional monomeric Compounds with four chemical attachments. These tend to have a low viscosity facilitating penetration into the concrete and quicker chemical reactions.