Roller Compacted Concrete Pavement (RCCP) is placed by roller compaction of a mixture of less cement and unit water content and more aggregates and provides excellent early strength development with the help of interlocking of aggregates and hydration. The unit cement content of RCC pavements accounts for 85% of conventional pavements, with low drying shrinkage. As low drying shrinkage leads to smaller crack widths than ordinary concrete, RCC pavements can help elevate reflecting crack resistance if applied to a base layer of a composite pavement system. In a composite pavement with an asphalt surface laid over a concrete base, pavement temperature change is important in predicting pavement performance. As movement of the lower concrete layer is determined by temperature depending on pavement depth, temperature data of the pavement structure serves as an important parameter to prevent and control reflecting crack. Among the causes of reflecting crack, horizontal behavior of the lower concrete layer and curling-caused vertical behavior of joints/cracks are considered closely related to temperature change characteristics of the lower concrete course (Baek, 2010). Previous studies at home and abroad about reflecting crack have focused on pavement behavior depending on daily and yearly in-service temperature changes of a composite pavement (Manuel, 2005). Until now, however, studies have not been conducted on initial temperature characteristics of concrete in composite pavements where asphalt surface is placed over an RCC base. Annual temperature changes of in-service concrete pavements go up to 60 ℃, and those of asphalt overlays become around the twice at 110 ℃. This study evaluated initial crack behavior of composite pavement by investigating pavement temperature by depth of an RCC base and analyzing joint movement depending on change to temperatures of continuously jointed pavements. Findings from the study suggest that in composite pavements and asphalt overlays, time of laying asphalt has an important impact on crack behavior and reflecting crack.

Roller Compacted Concrete Pavement (RCCP) is a pavement placed and compacted using an asphalt paver and a compaction roller by applying a small amount of concrete mixture and shows excellent structural performance as a result of hydration reaction of cement and interlocking of aggregates by roller compaction. It also provides economic advantages over conventional concrete pavements by reducing unit cement content and construction period, simplifying construction process, and decreasing traffic closure time (Wayne, 2006). However, given that it tends to show lower IRI levels than common concrete pavements since its low unit water content and binder weight ratios make uniform quality control difficult and roller compaction after paving makes the surface irregular and rough, with rough profile at the bottom of the pavement being reflected on the surface, RCCP is used mainly in port and industrial roads for low speed (60km/h or less) traffic (Dale Harringtion, 2010; Gregory, 2009). In order to apply RCCP to high-speed roadways, diamond grinding (DG) or asphalt overlay that is highly effective in improving roughness is needed (Fares Abdo, 2014; Gregory, 2009). Applying DG over RCCP leads to excellent skid resistance and noise reduction effects as a great percentage of aggregates makes the pavement surface rough, enhancing durability of concrete and the life of DG functionality. In addition, RCCP can be used as a high performance base layer of composite pavements, as it can reduce reflecting cracking at joints and cracked sections thanks to early strength development and low drying shrinkage of concrete. In this study, we assessed longitudinal roughness improvement effects by roughness-affecting factor by applying DG methods and asphalt overlays to three RCCP sites with a variety of sub-structural conditions and analyzed the effects on roughness of existing RCC pavements depending on surfacing method (DG, APOverlay).

In Korea, concrete pavements were first applied to highways in 1981 and as a result of continued increase in length over the past years, 2,592 km of concrete pavement network is currently in service, of which 1,399 km(54%) of concrete pavements is 10 years or older, and 233km(9%) is 20 years or older. The length of concrete pavement sections nationwide has been steadily on the rise every year (EXTRI, 2017). Approximately 54% of current concrete pavement highway network will reach the service life limit in 2025 which means around 660 billion won is needed for future pavement repair project (EXTRI, 2017). Given that concrete pavements beyond design life still have a remaining service life, it is economically advantageous to repair them before reconstruction. Asphalt overlays are a major repair method for older concrete pavements. Depending on the concrete pavement condition, thickness and mixture of asphalt overlays are determined. Service life of asphalt overlays varies by the presence, time and size of cracks in existing concrete pavements and reflecting crack at joints. Temperature change of concrete pavement is among the major reaction parameters of reflecting crack. Reflecting crack develops when asphalt bottom-up cracking by longitudinal shrinkage and expansion due to temperature change of the concrete base layer, top-down cracking by temperature difference between top and bottom of concrete, and shear stress by traffic loading are combined (Baek, 2010). Crack and joint behaviors of concrete pavement vary between the base layer and the concrete surface of composite pavement system, and different conductivity by mixture and thickness of asphalt overlay leads to temperature change of concrete base course. This study measured temperatures of each layer of diverse composite pavements in place on site and analyzed differences in temperature change of concrete base layer depending on mixture and thickness of asphalt overlays. Overlay thickness parameters were 5cm and 10cm, two values most widely used, while mixture parameters were SMA and porous asphalt. Based on temperature change of concrete surface, this study also evaluated the difference of temperature change in concrete base layer with an asphalt overlay on top. Findings from this study are expected to be utilized for studies on mechanism and modeling of reflecting crack in old concrete pavements with asphalt overlays.