Sealing of paving stone joints

This paper reports an experimental analysis of the joint-sealing material of stone pavement subjected to a heavy load in an urban context. Joint sealing is needed to avoid water intrusion and to prevent pumping phenomena. According to a literature review, the sealing process improves the structural behavior, interlocking, and roughness. Paving stone irregularity affects safety in particular for bikes and motorbikes. The traditional use of cement slurries has short-term benefits due to their rigid and brittle behavior, while the use of asphalt sealants is often incompatible with the desired aesthetic quality. A novel sealing technique was tested during the resurfacing of a historic stone pavement in the waterfront of the city of Cagliari (Italy). Laboratory four-point bending tests and finite element (FE) simulations were conducted on prismatic specimens obtained by connecting sealing material and granite samples. FastFWD on the newly sealed stone pavement validate the laboratory results and numerical simulations. The results demonstrate the benefits of the novel sealing technique: high bonding capacity, better distribution of stress, greater interlocking and minor relative displacements between stone elements. The load transfer efficiency (LTE) between blocks is increased from a mean of 84% for sand-cemented joints to 95.5% for the new resin joints, while the stress is 28% less.