Airfield Pavement Management

Workshop
Pavement Structure
Pavement Structure
Flexible Pavements
 A road or airfield pavement is normally referred to as “flexible” when the
surface course, or seal, is able to move with changes within the pavement
structure. Asphalt (bitumen) binders are used to cement (bond) aggregate
materials together.

 The surface course of flexible pavement is considered to provide little, or no

bearing strength to the underlying pavement unless it exceeds 50mm thick.

 Installed in thicker premixed asphalt cement surface courses, or thinner

spray sealed applications with aggregate placed over the bitumen binder on
site and then compressed to form a continuous pavement seal.

 The minimum thickness for compacting asphalt concrete is calculated as 2.5

times the largest aggregate size. Therefore a 50mm thick surface course
should not include larger aggregate than 20mm. Thinner layers will not allow
the surface course to remain flexible and support loads as designed.
Placement of an asphalt cement
surface course.
Spray Seal Bitumen
Spray sealed applications are ideal for the following situations;
 Protection for the road base from water ingress

 A wearing surface

 A surface with minimal dust

 Reduce deterioration for an existing pavement surface showing signs

of distress

 Restoration of skid-resistance for an existing pavement surface

 Primer seal under asphalt cement.

 May be applied in multiple layers where the aggregate for the second
coat is 50% smaller than the first coat. The smaller aggregate is
compressed into the hollows between the larger aggregate to improve
the interlock of the structure.
Placement of spray seal surface
course.
Rigid Pavements

 Rigid pavements normally refer to a road or airfield pavement that has a

non-flexible surface course. This material is normally thicker than a flexible
surface course and is constructed using portland cement to bond aggregate
together to form concrete.

 Rigid pavements have a load bearing surface that carries most of the load.
Therefore less pavement depth is required under the surface course when
compared to flexible pavement.
Runway Rehabilitation Works at Kansas City – United States of America
A 425mm thick rigid surface course replacement project for a high strength
runway.
“The work is necessary because the pavement installed more than 20 years
ago used local limestone aggregates that are susceptible to disintegration and
cracking because of the weather.” (source – The Kansas City Star)
Alternative Rigid Pavements
 Rigid pre-cast portland concrete blocks (pavers) can also be used to
construct an alternative surface course that is high load bearing with some
flexibility. This type of pavement should also have a cost advantage over
normal rigid pavement. Potential cost may be around 75% of the cost of
standard rigid pavement constructed with portland cement.

 Well suited to aprons catering up to B737 types. Large wide bodied aircraft
tend to break small pieces from the edges of the pavers and require more
frequent sweeping.

 For aviation use the pavers need to be higher strength than normal
road/driveway pavers and the quality control in manufacture needs to
ensure consistently sized pavers are produced. Problems maintaining a tight
interlock will occur when installing pavers over large areas if the pavers are
not uniform in size.
 The construction of a concrete block apron was exposed with this incident.

 The damage is unusual. It is difficult to understand how this could occur if

high density blocks are used.
 Side by side cross section comparison of typical rigid and flexible
pavements.
 The overall pavement structure is deeper for flexible pavements.

 Subsoil drainage is optional for rigid or flexible pavements.

Pavement Elements (Layers)
 Surface (Wearing) Course - One or more layers of a pavement structure
designed to accommodate the traffic load, the top layer of which resists
skidding, traffic abrasion, and the disintegrating effects of climate. The top
layer of flexible pavements is sometimes called "wearing course“ or “seal”.

 Base Course - The layer or layers of material of designed thickness placed

on a subbase or a subgrade to support a surface seal or course. Most base
courses are constructed with crushed aggregates and therefore may also be
called Crushed Aggregate Base Course.

 Subbase Course - The layer or layers of specified or selected material of

designed thickness placed on a subgrade to support a base course (or in
the case of rigid pavements, the portland cement concrete slab). If the
subgrade soil is of adequate quality, it may serve as the subbase.

 Subgrade - The (natural) surface upon which the pavement structure and
shoulders are constructed.
 Subgrade Strength Category

(Sourced from ICAO Annex 14)

 Pavement Load Spread

 The pavement structure distributes the load of the wheel across a broad area
of the natural surface. The deeper the pavement the wider the load spread.

 Weak drainage pipes may also be protected by deep pavement cover.

 Pavement Load Spread
 The pavement structure is designed to spread the load over a broad area of
the subgrade and is targeted not to exceed the strength of the available
subgrade material at the airfield.

 There is also a requirement for the pavement structure to support the surface
course.

 With the high loads applied on the surface course by modern aircraft it is
essential to provide a high quality well compacted base course material.

 Base course material that has been prepared by crushing larger rock pieces
will provide stronger interlock between the pieces of aggregate.

 For high load traffic, older pavements with unprepared gravel in the base
course would need a surface course that is designed to a thickness where it
will become a structural layer. With adequate structural thickness the surface
course will require less support.
California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

 The CBR rating was developed for measuring the

load bearing capacity of soils used for building
roads. The CBR can also be used for measuring
the load-bearing capacity of unimproved airstrips
or for soils under paved airstrips.

 The harder the surface, the higher the CBR rating.

A CBR of 3 equates to ploughed farmland, a CBR
of 4 - 5 equates to turf or moist clay, while moist
sand may have a CBR of 10. High quality crushed
rock has a CBR over 80.
 California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

 The Californian Bearing Ratio is a penetration test for evaluation of the

mechanical strength of road subgrades and base courses. It was developed
by the California Department of Transportation.

 The test is performed by measuring the pressure required to penetrate a soil

sample with a plunger of a standard area. The measured pressure (x) is then
divided by the pressure (y) required to achieve an equal penetration on a
standard crushed rock material.

 CBR% = 100(x/y)
 Grooved Runway Surface Course
 Grooved runways improve drainage and skid resistance, reduce the risk of
hydroplaning, and are recommended by the FAA. Studies have shown that
wet, grooved runways often provide a level of braking only marginally lower
than dry runways provide.

 The grooves provide increased texture and a shorter path for water to drain
away from the pavement surface.

 In Australia the grooves are usually cut 6mm wide and 6mm deep. They are
usually spaced 32mm apart. The normal practice is to groove cut the entire
runway surface with the exclusion of the sealed shoulders and the runway
end turning areas.

 In some countries the grooves are not continuous along the length of the
runway. An alternating pattern of grooved and un-grooved sections are used
at up to 1 metre spacing.
 A close-up image of grooves cut in an asphalt surface course.
 Groove pattern in a concrete surface at Busan Airport, South Korea.
(apologies for the poor image quality, it is a hasty shot taken from the window of an
aircraft)
 Groove Cutting Process

 Runway grooves are cut with circular saws similar to the concrete saws that
are used for various construction work.

 Specialised equipment is fitted with multiple saws that cut a path one metre
or more wide.

 The saws are cooled and lubricated by water. The process creates a slurry
residue that needs to be collected and washed from the runway surface.

 These machines have also been used on some road surfaces where there is
a history of accidents due to poor friction. It may be observed on tight
corners on roads in cold climates.
 Groove cutting machine at work on an asphalt surface course.
 Groove cutting machine at work on an asphalt surface course.
Questions?