Dowel assembly alignment apparatus and method

1. An apparatus including:

a dowel configured to join two adjacent concrete sections, the dowel including:

a cylindrical rod having a length between two opposite ends; and

a reflective marker disposed on the cylindrical rod at a midpoint of the length; and

a basket to which the dowel is attached proximate one of the ends.

2. The dowel of claim 1 , wherein the reflective marker is provided in the form of a stripe.

3. The dowel of claim 1 , wherein the marker is provided in the form of an applied coating on the cylindrical rod.

4. The dowel of claim 1 , wherein the marker is provided in the form of a tape layer adhered to the cylindrical rod.

5. The dowel of claim 1 , wherein the reflective marker is provided about only a portion of a circumference of the cylindrical rod.

6. The dowel of claim 5 , wherein the portion is about 45% of the circumference of the cylindrical rod.

7. A method of aligning a plurality of dowels for construction of a concrete road on a road bed, the method including:

locating a marker on the road bed that indicates a position of a cut line to be placed on the concrete road;

positioning a first dowel of the plurality of dowels above the road bed, wherein the first dowel includes a first reflective alignment stripe thereon;

positioning a second dowel of the plurality of dowels above the road bed, wherein the second dowel includes a second reflective alignment stripe thereon; and

aligning the first reflective alignment stripe and second reflective alignment stripe with the marker in a straight line.

8. The method of claim 7 including shining a light on the first reflective alignment stripe and the second reflective alignment stripe.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the first and second dowels are provided on a single basket.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the first and second dowels are provided on separate first and second baskets, respectively.