PURPOSES : In this study, the initial behaviors of shoulder concrete slabs and tiebars at the longitudinal construction joints between the shoulder JCP and mainline CRCP are investigated. METHODS : The strains of concrete and tiebars were measured at the longitudinal construction joint between the CRCP and JCP. Measurements were performed using data accumulated over a month after concrete placement. The contact conditions were investigated by comparing the strains at each location. RESULTS : The longitudinal construction joints between the shoulder JCP and mainline CRCP exhibited the composite behavior of bonding and friction, and a virtual neutral axis was formed inside the JCP. At the connection of the shoulder concrete, the strain and temperature of the concrete were inversely proportional. The tiebars connecting the CRCP and JCP exhibited different behaviors depending on the bonding conditions around the tiebars of the construction joints. In the presumed state in which the bonding condition was maintained, the concrete temperature and tiebar strain were directly proportional; however, the presumed state of the separation condition exhibited an inversely proportional relationship. In the 24-h behaviors of the tiebars, the effects of the horizontal and curling movements overlapped, and the strains of the measured tiebars increased at the minimum and maximum temperatures of the shoulder JCP. CONCLUSIONS : The strains in the tiebars and concrete slabs primarily depended on the boundary conditions (bonding and friction) of the longitudinal construction joint between the shoulder JCP and mainline CRCP.