Behavior and Early-Age Performance of Continuously Reinforced Concrete Bus Pad

The behavior of the cast-in-place continuously reinforced concrete (CRC) bus pad applied to bus stop pavement in a central bus-only lane was experimentally analyzed under environmental and moving vehicle loads, and the early-age performance of the CRC bus pad was evaluated using experimental data and finite element analysis results. Using various measurement sensors, the concrete slab strain, longitudinal steel bar strains, horizontal and vertical displacements, and crack behavior of the CRC bus pad due to environmental loads were measured, and the dynamic responses of the concrete slab and steel bars due to moving vehicle loads were also measured. Additionally, a method for converting strain gauge measurements of a cracked concrete slab to the strain of an uncracked concrete slab was also proposed. Under environmental loads, the range of stresses acting on the steel bars and the bond between concrete and steel bars were analyzed to be appropriate for ensuring excellent performance of the CRC bus pad. The crack widths and vertical and longitudinal displacements of the CRC bus pad were found to have no effect on the pavement performance. Within the vehicle velocity range used in this experiment, the strains of the slab and steel bars as the vehicle passed through the CRC bus pad were virtually independent of the vehicle velocity and were within a range that did not cause any reduction in pavement performance. This study confirmed that the CRC bus pad has excellent performance and can replace asphalt concrete bus stop pavement or jointed concrete bus pad.