To seal or not to seal has been a question for more than a quarter century. Joint sealing has been a process in constructing concrete pavements for over a hundred years, yet the challenge of quality installation continues. The purpose of joint sealing is to reduce the amount of water entering a pavement structure and to prevent the filling of joints with incompressible materials.

When freeway noise became a quality of life issue in early 2000s, a political decision was made to overlay the Valley’s concrete freeway system with Asphalt Rubber Friction Course (ARFC). At that time, no economic analysis was done, no alternative concrete solutions considered, nor any long-term considerations made for ARFC’s perpetual replacement needs. As a result, 16 years later the story can be told: The ARFC Overlay Strategy will Cost Taxpayers One Half Billion Dollars over the next 50 years; $12M Each and Every Year for Perpetuity.

The International Roughness Index (IRI) is a roadway roughness statistic widely used for pavement management, and its use in pavement construction is on the rise. The IRI of a specific stretch of pavement is calculated using a mathematical algorithm and pavement smoothness data obtained with a profiler.

The Little Book of Profiling covers three basic questions: How do profilers work, what can you do with their measurements and what can you do to reduce errors? The material is targeted at users. The intent is to make the material no more technical than is needed to describe what the measurers mean that you can get from a profiler.

The results of this study show that concrete pavement restoration (CPR) with diamond grinding is an effective means of extending service life of concrete pavements. Based on surface texture life, faulting performance, and survival trends, a diamond-ground surface may be expected to provide a minimum of 8 to 10 years of service with a high degree of reliability. Dowel bar retrofitting (DBR) can be a highly effective method of extending service life of nondoweled PCC pavements with high traffic, especially for pavements in wet climates.

Diamond grinding is a concrete pavement restoration (CPR) technique that provides a smooth riding surface with the desirable friction characteristics on concrete pavements that have developed excessive roughness. Diamond grinding offers numerous advantages over other rehabilitation alternatives.