Innovate1
Well-known member
Some major street intersection work going on near my house and wondering what these are used for. The large steel rods are 1-1/4" x 18" dia per the tag. Figured someone here would know...
Wondering about these rebar "dowel baskets"
- Thread starter Innovate1
- Start date
wssix99
Well-known member
Those are dowel bars. Unlike rebar, they are smooth and intended to allow sections of a slab to slide along them as things expand and contract. The baskets are placed in roadways where saw cut joints are cut.
pavementinteractive.org
For a driveway or a garage, this is overkill but a roadway takes a pounding an needs the dowels to keep the sections of the roadway aligned where the cracks form along the joints. They keep this type of thing from happening over time:
Dowel Bar Placement – Pavement Interactive
Free online knowledge for the paving industry
pavementinteractive.org
For a driveway or a garage, this is overkill but a roadway takes a pounding an needs the dowels to keep the sections of the roadway aligned where the cracks form along the joints. They keep this type of thing from happening over time:
Rusted Nut
Well-known member
As wissix stated, they allow horizontal expansion/contraction movement, but don't allow vertical displacement. Often used between slab sections/cold joints. If you want a really nice garage slab, this is the way to go IMO.
wssix99
Well-known member
What do you think about just regular reinforcing grids in a garage in lieu of doweling?
Reinforcing helps with vertical displacement by keeping the sections/cracks tight. (I have never seen a reinforced slab that had a vertical displacement issue in a driveway/garage application.) I'd also be worried that most contractors placing concrete in a garage or driveway might not actually get the saw cuts and dowels put in the same place.
Rusted Nut
Well-known member
A good well planned grid and soft cuts work well. I used dowel systems in warehouses, where the dowels are spaced 80’ - 100’, with soft cut joints every 20’.
Those are used in roads (as mentioned) and Airport Apron Paving.
smoothly dowels in a wire basket. Dowels are epoxy coated for corrosion resistance.
Sometimes every other panel is placed for a checkerboard pattern. You have to cut a wire in the middle before the second placement to allow for the slip.
Sometimes you have to drill and epoxy these. Use a rock drill and lots of epoxy.
Those are made off of a shop drawings for the specific purpose. Length of dowel. Height of basket. And overall length.
smoothly dowels in a wire basket. Dowels are epoxy coated for corrosion resistance.
Sometimes every other panel is placed for a checkerboard pattern. You have to cut a wire in the middle before the second placement to allow for the slip.
Sometimes you have to drill and epoxy these. Use a rock drill and lots of epoxy.
Those are made off of a shop drawings for the specific purpose. Length of dowel. Height of basket. And overall length.