Mitigation strategies for reflection cracking in rehabilitated pavements – A synthesis

The placement of an asphalt overlay on top of an existing pavement is rarely a lasting solution. Due to continuous movement of the existing pavement, existing discontinuities such as cracks and joints propagate through the overlay causing reflection cracking. Reflection cracking is a serious challenge associated with pavement rehabilitation. Practical experience shows that reflection cracking propagates at a rate of 1 in. per year. As the need grows for new rehabilitation methodologies to improve the performance of overlays against reflection cracking, a number of state transportation agencies tasked the authors of this paper to conduct a comprehensive review of treatment methods available to delay or to prevent reflection cracking in rehabilitated pavements and to survey current state of practice in addressing this distress. Based on the results of the literature review and the survey questionnaire, a summarized assessment is presented for each treatment method. Further, a number of treatment methods were identified for further evaluation by the state transportation agencies. For existing HMA pavements, crack sealing and overlay, chip.