The Ontario Ministry of Transportation strives to provide a safe, reliable and efficient transportation system to the travelling public. Constructing safe and durable pavement is critical to achieve this mandate.
Ontario contains a significant amount of concrete pavement, which includes 849 lane-km of exposed concrete pavement and 2,187 lane-km of composite pavement. In 2018, a substantial update to the concrete pavement specification was completed. The new specification adopted the latest concrete pavement construction techniques and quality assurance measures. Significant changes were made to improve the durability of the concrete pavement joints to prevent premature joint deterioration, which can be a safety hazard if the deterioration is severe. Changes to address premature joint deterioration included improved concrete properties and changes to the joint design. The specification amended the use of longitudinal grooving to replace transverse tinning, which promotes sustainability and safety through reducing hydroplaning and noise level. Also, the concrete aggregate material specification was updated to increase the insoluable residue content to improve concrete pavement frictional resistance. Furthermore, to improve quality assurance efficiency, smoothness is measured using an Inertial Profiler replacing the use of California Profilograph.
The changes to the concrete pavement specification are critical to ensure a quality product. To date, a few ministry contracts have been constructed using the updated specification. Details of the specification update and impact to the quality is documented in this paper.