Pavement joint

A pavement joint disposed between two adjacent pavement slabs having respective edge surfaces facing each other, the joint further comprising:

• an elongate joint member disposed between the facing edge surfaces of the pavement slabs and extending along a joint axis, the member comprising:
• a core;
• first and second lateral portions that project laterally from the core and interengage with the edge surfaces of the respective slabs, the core and the lateral portions being sufficiently unyielding in the vertical direction to form a shear key so that when at least one of the slabs is subjected to vertical out-of-plane action, the shear key transfers shear load from the one slab to the other slab to cause the slabs to move vertically together, thereby inhibiting differential vertical movement of the slabs wherein the lateral portions are arcuate and slidingly engage with respective arcuate edge surfaces of the slabs to form a hinge between the slabs so that when at least one of the slabs is subjected to out-of-plane movement the hinge accommodates angular displacement of the slabs relative to the joint axis;
• and
• spacers extending from the core and disposed between the edge surfaces of the slabs, the spacers extending toward upper and lower surfaces of the slabs, the spacers being deformable so as to accommodate movement of the edge surfaces toward each other under angular displacement of the slabs to thereby avoid pinching of the edge surfaces of the slabs.

A pavement joint disposed between two adjacent pavement slabs having respective edges facing each other, each of the edges including arcuate edge surfaces, the joint further comprising:

• an elongate joint member disposed between the adjacent slab edges and extending along a joint axis, the joint member having upper and lower ends and opposite first and second faces that face toward respective edges of the slabs and extend between said ends;
• each said face incorporating an outwardly extending lateral portion, the joint member in the region of the lateral portions being sufficiently unyielding in the vertical direction to form a shear key so that when one of the slabs is subjected to vertical out-of-plane action the shear key transfers shear load from the one slab to the other slab to cause the slabs to move vertically together;
• each of the elongate member faces further including arcuate bearing surfaces that extend from the lateral portion of that face towards respective upper and lower ends of the joint member;
• the joint member being engaged with the edges of the adjacent slabs with interengagement of the lateral portions with the edges of the slabs and the arcuate bearing surfaces slidably engaging with the respective arcuate edge surfaces of the slabs thereby forming upper and lower hinges disposed respectively above and below the shear key and operative to accommodate angular displacement of the slabs relative to the joint axis with one hinge accommodating angular displacement of the slabs about the joint axis in one direction and the other hinge accommodating angular displacement of the slabs about the joint axis in the opposite direction.