Minnesota's Experience with Low W/C Ratio Pavements - Minnesota Department of Transportation Office of Materials and Road Research. Original presentation was at the TRB Committee on Sealants and Fillers for Joints and Cracks during the TRB meeting Tuesday, January 15th 2013.

• Sealants and Fillers for Joints and Cracks Committee, AHD25, Maria Masten, PE

Petrographers Perspective of Joint Associated Distress

• Petrographers Perspective of Joint Associated Distress by Gerard Moulzolf, PG

Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Concrete Pavements, July 8-12, 2012, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

• Transverse Joint Distress and Mid-Slab Cracking Distress in PCC Pavements, A Petrographer’s Perspective, by David Lankard

Impact of Sealed Joints on Performance of Thin Whitetopping at MnROAD (Originally Presented at Transportation Research Board 91st Annual Meeting, January 25th, 2012)

• TRB Presentation

Concrete Pavement Joint and Crack Sealing (Originally Presented at World of Concrete, January 2012)

• Market Trends, Current Research and Best Practices

Quarterly Newsletter

• Seal/No Seal Group's quarterly newsletter (September 2011)

Ongoing Research

• Preliminary Findings in the SNS/TTI Research
• Effect of Joint Sealant Condition on Moisture Infiltration and Erosion Potential (Texas A&M Riverside Campus)
• SR59 SB Roadway Joint Sealant Experiment Sealant Effectiveness Study

Technical Briefs

• A Technical View of Backer Rods

• Evaluation of Backer Rod Absorption

• Joint Movement Estimator for Designing Transverse Joint Seal Installations

• Joint Slap Evaluation and Prevention

• Construction of Long Life Sealant Performance

• Use of Silanes for Sealing Joints in Concrete Pavements

Technical Information

• Review of Caltrans Concrete Pavement Sealed and Unsealed Pavement Performance

• Effect Of Drainage On The Performance Concrete Pavement Joints In Minnesota

• North Dakota Practice of Unsealed Joints in New Portland Cement Concrete Pavements

• The Long-Term Performance of Unsealed Jointed Concrete Pavements

• To Seal or Not to Seal? A Field Experiment to Resolve an Age-Old Dilemma

• Joint Sealant Field Performance – Ten Year Evaluation

• The Great Unsealing: A Perspective in PCC Joint Sealing

• Effect of Defective Joint Seals on Pavement Performance

• Joint Sealant Considerations for Transverse Contraction Joints in Concrete Highway Pavements

• Performance of Sealed and Unsealed Concrete Pavement Joints

• Measured Effects of Joint and Crack Sealing

• Cost-Effectiveness of Joint/Crack Sealing

• Evaluation of Narrow Transverse Contraction Joints in Concrete Pavements

• Summary of State Highway Agency Use of Joint Sealant for Transverse Contraction Joints in Highway Pavements

In 2009, the Seal/No Seal Group accomplished the following, using its limited funding, with the assistance of many dedicated industry volunteers: 

• 58 of the 93 original FHWA Test Sections were re-evaluated in 2009, extending the initial performance period approximately 40% over the original FHWA “Effectiveness of Sealing Transverse Contraction Joints in Concrete Pavements” Study

• Four state DOTs conducted evaluations of their test sections

• Ten new sealant test sections were constructed in 2009

• Initiated a study to determine the effect of joint sealant or lack thereof on moisture infiltration/base
  erosion and its potential environmental impact; developing an infiltration test to qualify the joint seal
  condition - Tests occurring at the Riverside Campus of Texas A&M University, in conjunction with the Texas
  Transportation Institute

The Seal/No Seal Group recommends methods for determining sealant effectiveness. The following is a suggested program for any potential agency, municipality, or company to use if they believe the seal/no seal issue needs to be looked at in their area.

• Establishing Joint Sealant Effectiveness

Current FHWA sealant test locations throughout the United States.