Dowel Sleeve

Summary

Dowel Sleeve - A dowel sleeve is cast in the panel opposite a dowel and ensures that the dowel’s movement is not restrained, except in the vertical direction. It encloses half of the dowel.

Technical Information

Dowel sleeves are usually made from plastic and ensure that the dowel is debonded from the other panel.

They are usually the same shape as their dowel, but slightly wider so that the dowel has room to move parallel to the joint, allowing for differential shrinkage movements between the two panels.

They are usually cast in a panel before the dowel itself. If the joint is not armoured, the temporary formwork usually has dowel-shaped protrusions to hold the dowel sleeves in place until the concrete has set. Once the dowel sleeve has set in place, the formwork is removed and a dowel is placed in the sleeve. The second panel is then cast around the exposed part of the dowel.

Dowel sleeves are also fitted to one side of the pre-installed dowels in an armoured joint, with the steel shutter used as a permanent formwork.