Dowels are steel bars placed in construction joints of concrete pavement to help transfer load between individual slabs. Usually, they are placed at the transverse joints, and they assist the load transfer from one slab to another.

To do this, part (usually half of the length) of the bar is embedded in one of the concrete slabs and the other part is bonded in the adjacent slab – this is to allow for free movement during expansion and contraction of the slab during changes n temperature.

In placing the dowel bars, it must be parallel to the centre-line, and new channels must be cut so that at least one-half of dowel can be on each side of the joint

Benefits of Dowels

·         significantly improves the performance of pavement joints

·         reduce the life cycle cost

·         increase load transfer efficiency