Concepts to Enhance Specification and Inspection of Curing Effectiveness in Concrete Pavement Design and Construction

This paper presents an approach that can be used to consider the effect of the quality of curing and the time of placement (collectively referred to as "curing effectiveness") on the development of the set gradient and its importance to long-term performance of jointed concrete pavement structures. The approach involves the definition of a curing quality index, referred to as the "effectiveness index," that is reconfigured to function as a boundary interface to account for the effect of ambient conditions and represent the method of curing on potential moisture evaporation during hardening shortly after construction. Moisture and temperature boundary conditions are incorporated into a simple spreadsheet tool to evaluate heat and moisture transfer mechanisms at the cured surface of a concrete pavement during placement operations. Key parameters for development of set gradients in a concrete slab are identified, and a discussion is presented about how these parameters can be included in construction specifications and monitored as part of routine inspections. This paper also explains a laboratory and field protocol to monitor curing quality and facilitate an inspection program for concrete pavement construction and satisfy specification requirements to meet an expected design life.