Sunday June 15, 2008, 10:00 AM
Workshop instructors: Imad L. Al-Qadi and William G. Buttlar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Reflective cracking is one of the major distresses in hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlays and is increasingly drawing the attention of pavement engineers.  Unfortunately, the mechanisms underlying reflective cracking have not been well understood nor has an appropriate approach to abate reflective cracking been identified.  Significant work is currently underway to understand reflective cracking, and a number of attempts have been made to study reflective crack control methods in field trials.  These methods include increasing overlay thickness, cracking-and-seating, sawing-and-sealing joints in the overlay, and/or installing interlayer systems including SAMI, reinforcement, and strain energy absorbers.  However, no ideal solution has yet been found to prevent reflective cracking.  The workshop will discuss topics related to the causes, mechanisms, prediction, and mitigation methods for reflective crack control.  The workshop will also discuss field reflective cracking detection and interlayer system cost effectiveness.