Evaluation of Dowel Bars Installed in Airfield Concrete Pavement Construction Joints by Using Plastic Sleeves (05-2612) - MP-18**
Hyunhwa Thomas Yu, Federal Highway Administration

This paper presents the results of evaluation of the effectiveness of a new innovative process for installing dowel bars in construction joints without drilling. The procedure involves inserting plastic sleeves with the same outside dimensions as the drilled holes into plastic concrete to create the holes for the dowel bar installation, rather than drilling. The plastic sleeves are later removed and the dowel bars are inserted in the holes left behind. To ensure that the new technique for dowel bar installation is free of any deleterious effects, the technique must be shown to produce dowel bar alignments that are comparable to the bars installed using the conventional method without causing any other problems. A field testing was conducted to evaluate the viability of the new technique for installing dowel bars in construction joints. The evaluation is based on the key factors that determine the engineering feasibility of the new procedure, which include dowel bar alignment, consolidation of concrete around the plastic sleeves, and the impact of the insertion techniques on pavement surface profile. The field testing results showed that the plastic sleeves can produce dowel bar alignments that are comparable to or better than the conventional drilling method, without any deleterious effects.