There is substantial evidence that tied Portland cement concrete (PCC) shoulders improve PCC pavement performance significantly. Therefore, use tied PCC shoulders. If it is not feasible to provide full-width tied PCC shoulders, use a minimum 2-ft. widened outside lane.

PCC shoulders should be tied to the main lane pavement by tie bars or by the main lane's transverse steel. The PCC shoulder must have the same thickness and the same base layers as the main lane pavement. This will allow traffic to be routed on the shoulder during future maintenance and construction while reducing the chances of structurally damaging the shoulder. It will also facilitate the construction sequence, in most cases.

Tied or monolithic curb and gutter help in reducing edge stresses and serve as a barrier that discourages traffic from riding too close to the edge of the pavement structure. Although tied curb and gutter sections usually contain tie bars, the tie bars are too small in either size or number to transfer load stresses effectively by themselves. Construction joints usually exist between tied curb and gutter and the concrete pavement. This means no aggregate interlock exists. Since the number of edge stresses in the pavement are much less for monolithic curb sections than for tied curb and gutter sections, the use of monolithic curb is recommended when practical.