Application of Concrete Crack Sealant in Infrastructure Repairs
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Date
2023-12-15
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Authors
Messer, Caleb Lane
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Publisher
East Carolina University
Abstract
The infrastructure condition in the United States has been deterioration over the past few decades. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Report Card, the overall rating of US infrastructure projects is C-. Severe deterioration is attributed to the inability of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to sufficiently maintain and/or replace deteriorated elements due to lack of funding. In this research, maintenance of concrete cracking through the application of sealant is addressed. In order to determine the most effective sealant types in crack repairs, literature review is conducted, and specifications of several State Departments of Transportation are reviewed. The analysis of crack sealant effectiveness considered the type of crack, the type of sealant used, concrete surface preparation, sealant application, curing procedure and associated quality control methods. Finally, the appropriate testing procedures for sealant are determined. The outcome of this research will provide State DOTs personnel with efficient methodology to select and apply the appropriate types of sealants to different infrastructure project cracks to attain optimized and most-economic maintenance outcomes.