Abstract: A device for transferring vertical shear stress and bending moments across transverse joints in concrete pavement slabs and the like, and for simultaneously controlling the joint gap width. A dowel is formed from a continuous length of steel bar, treated to cause its outer ends to bond to concrete and its central portion treated to prevent bonding to concrete. The outer ends of each bar is formed to permit the center portion to be disposed near either the top surface or bottom surface of the slab sections and the outer ends along the neutral axis of the slab sections. The bars are used in pairs with one center portion adjacent the top surface and the other one adjacent the bottom surface. A multiplicity of such dowels is embedded in the concrete of a continuously-poured concrete slab aligned with the roadway and in a spaced relationship across the slab. The concrete is grooved before curing across the slab and over the central portions of the dowels.