Al-Qadi discusses methods to control reflective cracking in pavements

Imad Al-Qadi, ICT director, and Mostafa El-Seifi, associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Louisiana State University, presented a live webinar on best methods for controlling reflective cracking in pavement.

“Cost-Effective Treatment Methods to Control Reflective Cracking in Pavements,” sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Transportation and Development Institute and ASCE Continuing Education, was held on November 2, 2015.

Reflection cracking is caused by discontinuities in underlying layers, which propagate through an asphalt overlay as a result of movement at the discontinuity prompted by thermal and traffic loading. Major efforts have been made to find new and relatively inexpensive techniques to delay reflection cracking, including the use of interlayer systems.

Al-Qadi and El-Seifi presented the mechanisms of reflective cracking as well as the controlling factors responsible for propagation of cracks in the overlay. They also discussed various treatment methods used to control as part of cost-effective strategies for pavement rehabilitation.

The webinar audience was engaged in a discussion about best practices to avoid erroneous use of available treatment methods and costly errors in selecting rehabilitation methods against reflective cracking. The presenters recommended that highway engineers and consultants learn the benefits of each treatment method in controlling reflective cracking to ensure effective and efficient solutions that would limit user delays caused by repetitive repair activities.

Al-Qadi, El-Seifi, and James Greene of Florida Department of Transportation presented another webinar on the same topic earlier in August, 2015. Slides from that presentation, which was sponsored by the Transportation Research Board Standing Committee on Pavement Rehabilitation, are available for download here.