Current state of reflective cracking in the United States

Reflective cracking is the most common type of distress for composite pavements that employ a hot-mix asphalt surface course over a portland cement concrete slab. Reflective cracking left untreated is known to contribute to a rougher and noisier ride and to hasten the premature failure of the surface material at or near joints. Nevertheless, the current practices of many states in the United States to manage reflective cracking are not effective due to the lack of having systematic procedures in place for not only evaluating the actual reflective cracking condition but to select the appropriate treatment methods through the decision-making process as well. To overcome the current practical issues, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) conducted a research study to develop a decision-making process to enhance treatment selection for reflective cracking in composite pavements. A survey of all state DOTs was conducted within the INDOT study to determine the current state of the practice in managing reflective cracking. This paper synthesizes all the levels of knowledge gathered in four selected topic areas by analyzing the data collected through the survey: (1) reflective cracking treatment methods, (2) testing methods, (3) factors and constraints to select correct treatment methods, and (4) decision-making methods. The analyzed results of the survey were combined with the results of two previous surveys in order to validate the reliability of the survey results presented in this paper as well as obtain more comprehensive knowledge about reflective cracking management practices nationwide. For the combined data analysis, the separate approach was used. In conclusion, this paper contributes the following to the body of knowledge: (1) provides detailed information about the topics surveyed; (2) identifies consistent perceptions in terms of the prevalent treatment methods, treatment method preferences, widely used testing methods, and systematic decision-making procedures; and (3) estimates more precise statistics at the national level.