Types of Concrete Joints and

Placing Tips
BY JUAN RODRIGUEZ
Updated May 13, 2018

Concrete joints are used to compensate when concrete expands or shrinks with
changes in temperature. Concrete joints are normally used to prevent cracks when
the concrete shrinks by creating forming, tooling, sawing and placing joint formers.
The pre-planned cracks will provide a better finish concrete product and will be
formed in specific locations where those cracks could be monitored. Sometimes
because of the material and width or span of the concrete joints are required to
improve the performance of the material and allow the materials to expand/contract
or move without damaging other structures.

Concrete Contraction Joints

Intended to create a weakened area in the concrete and regulate where cracks will
occur, normally in a straight line. Contraction joints should be placed to produce
panels that are as square as possible and never exceed a length to width ratio of 1 ½
to 1. Joints are commonly spaced at distances equal to 24 to 30 times the slab
thickness.

Joint spacing that is greater than 15 feet requires the use of load transfer devices.
Contraction joints may be tooled into the concrete surface at the time of placement.
Joints may also be sawed into the hardened concrete surface. It is important to
understand that the longer sawing is delayed the higher the potential for cracks to
establish themselves before sawing is complete.

Concrete Expansion Joints

Concrete expansion joints are used to separate slabs and concrete from other parts
of the structure. Expansion joints allow independent movement between adjoining
structural members minimizing cracking when such movements are restrained.

This allows for thermal expansion and contraction without inducing stress into the
system.

Why Do We Need Construction Joints?

Construction joints are used in circumstances where two consecutive placements of
concrete meet. Construction joints are normally placed at the end of the day or be
placed when concrete pour has been stopped for longer than the initial setting time of
concrete.

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 Construction joints should be designed and specified by a structural engineer. You
can also achieve bond and continue reinforcement through a construction joint. If
enough PCC is available at the end of the day, the construction joint can be placed at
a planned transverse contraction joint.

Concrete Joints Placing Tips

The following recommended tips should be observed:

 Maximum Joint Spacing should be 24 to 36 times the thickness of the slab.

 Joints should be spaced about 10 feet and a maximum of 15 feet.
 When using joint groove for contraction joints, the joint should be a minimum
depth of ¼ thickness of the slab.
 Saw-cut joints should be done within 4 to 12 hours after the concrete has been
finished.
 Keyed joints are not recommended for industrial floors.
 Dry-cut joints should be made between 1 to 4 hours after completion of
finishing.
 The pre-molded joint filler should be used to separate slabs from building walls
or footings. Place 2 inches of sand over the top of a footing to prevent bond to the
footing.
 If the slab contains wire mesh, it is recommended to discontinue the mesh
across contraction joints.
 Joint spacing should also be chosen, so that concrete sections are
approximately square.
 It is recommended to have concrete joints along column lines either sawed or
keyed.
 Metal dowels should be used in slabs that carry heavy loads.
 Plan exact locations of all joints including the timing of saw cutting.
 Use isolation joints between slabs and columns, walls and footings and where
curbs or sidewalks meet other concrete structures.
 Materials used on concrete joints must be flexible enough to absorb or deform
as needed and then being able to restore back to their original state.
 Always look for materials that are permeable and that can bond to the
concrete.

Tools Used to Create Concrete Joints

The following tools are normally used to create concrete joints, although these tools
might vary depending on the size and scope of the project. Here are the most
commonly used tools:
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 Hand Grover or Walking Grover: Depending on how large the slab is, you
might want to choose one of these two.
 Cordless control joint tools: ideal for use on small to medium size projects.
 Concrete saw: ideal for saw cutting concrete, but be sure to know how deep
that cut needs to be. Otherwise, you might be creating other problems.

A construction joint occurs when there are multiple concrete

placements. It can occur between different days of concrete
placements as shown below.

There is a construction joint between the placement of a footing and

the placement of the column. See yellow highlighted area in picture
below.

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A control joint or contraction joint is a joint that is put in the
concrete to control cracking. For example, when they sawcut joints
into the concrete pavement, these are control joints. These are
necessary, because we know the concrete will crack. We just need to
try to control where it cracks. These are called contraction joints,
because concrete tends to contract when it is curing. Some people
refer to these as expansion joints, but that is not technically correct.

Below is a picture of the concrete saw used for sawcutting.

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An expansion joint is used in concrete and steel. An expansion joint
allows the concrete or steel to expand or contract with daily
temperature variations. If you don’t allow this, you may get buckling,
or spalling, or total failures.

A bridge expansion joint is pictured below.

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An expansion joint in the bridge railing is shown below. Notice how
the barrier has to have an expansion joint as well. The railing can
slide in and out of the expansion joint as it expands and contracts.

A finger joint expansion joint is pictured below. As the bridge

expands or contracts the fingers get closer together or farther apart.

Singam, Civil Engineer

Answered Jan 26, 2017

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Construction Joints are Joints in concrete slabs, where concreting just
stops and continue later. Like doing half-break(joint)-half or a
weekend between busy weeks. This is due to large volume
concreting can’t be done in a day and COLD JOINT IN CONCRETE is
not need.

The longitudinal and traverse joints in pavements. This is jenerraly

not used in bridges.

Expansion joint is a small gap for thermal expansion and contraction

of the solid structure. It is important to reduce internal stress of large
structures like bridges. This gap can be filled or fitted with any joint
seal systems.

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