The National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) is hosting “Research Pays Off: FRC Jointless Roundabouts in Minnesota” on March 16 at 10 a.m. CST, presented by Principal Investigator Peter Taylor, Ph.D., P.E., Iowa State and Technical Liaison Maria Masten, P.E., MnDOT.
The NRRA’s monthly seminar highlights research topics that will make an impact on the work done here in the state of Minnesota and around the country.
Project Summary
The use of roundabouts to improve safety and traffic flow in rural areas is growing rapidly in the U.S. Proper design details and construction methods are important to the long term performance of these facilities. Joint layout in roundabouts constructed with concrete pavement are especially challenging. To reduce the need for sophisticated joint layouts, some roundabouts are now be constructed without joints, utilizing structural fiber-reinforced concrete to bridge cracking that might occur. Fiber-reinforced concrete is also being used in thin concrete overlays to increase longevity and enhance joint load transfer capacity.
In 2018, Minnesota’s first jointless fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) pavement roundabout was constructed near the city of Sleepy Eye. It is of interest to the NRRA Rigid Team members to understand the design, construction, and near-term performance of this roundabout. Also constructed in 2018 were two fiber-reinforced concrete whitetopping (bonded concrete overlay on asphalt) projects in southern Minnesota. These projects were unique in that early construction vehicle loading was applied to each project to encourage the deployment of transverse contraction joints. The NRRA Rigid Team members are interested in documenting the innovative steps performed during the early loading process.
The objectives of this study are twofold:
- Write a construction report and carryout a 3-year performance monitoring regime for the jointless FRC roundabout project
- Write a construction report for the two FRC whitetopping projects subjected to early loading.
Visit the MnROAD website for webinar connection information.
