© INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR RESEARCH PUBLICATION & SEMINAR

ISSN: 2278-6848 | Volume: 07 Issue: 02 | April – June 2016

Study of designing pavements for light aircraft

1
Ajay Kundu, Research Scholar, 2Ranadip Mandal CBS group of Institution

Introduction : According to the Federal Aviation

Administration, airport pavements are primarily constructed
to provide adequate support for the loads imposed by aircraft
using an airport. The Federal Aviation Administration states
that an adequate pavement design produces a firm and stable,
all-year, all-weather surface. In order to effectively fulfill these requirements, the pavement must be of
such quality and thickness that it will not fail under the loads imposed by the various aircrafts using the
airport. It is also vital for the pavement throughout the airport to be durable and long-lasting in order to
control operating costs. The pavement chosen must possess sufficient inherent stability to withstand the
constant traffic, adverse weather conditions, and other deteriorating influences to a degree that it does not
constantly have to be attended to.

Key words : pavements, aircraft, runway etc

Although aircraft landing gears are involved in the design of airport pavement, the Federal Aviation
Administration does not specifically prescribe any component of landing gear design. In 1958, the
Federal Aviation Administration adopted a policy of limiting maximum Federal participation in airport
pavements to a pavement section designed to serve a 350,000 pound aircraft with a DC-S-50 series
landing gear configuration. The main intent of this policy was to insure that future aircraft were equipped
with landing gears that would not stress the pavements more than the referenced 350,000 pound aircraft.

Since, aircraft manufacturers have accepted and followed the 1958 policy. Even though aircraft gross
weights have substantially exceeded 350,000 pounds they still have designed all aircraft landing gear to
conform to the policy. This feat has been accomplished by increasing the number and spacing of landing
gear wheels. Therefore, even though the policy of 1958 is not exactly the same as it was the year it was
adopted, the landing gear stills falls to the responsibility of the aircraft designers and manufactures.

Steps in the pavement design process :

1. Existing Soil Investigation and Evaluation

The first step in the pavement design process is to inspect the existing soil present throughout the site.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Unified Soil Classification system should be used
in all matters concerning civil airport pavements. Soil conditions include factors such as the elevation of

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© INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR RESEARCH PUBLICATION & SEMINAR
ISSN: 2278-6848 | Volume: 07 Issue: 02 | April – June 2016

the water table, the presence of water bearing strata, and the field properties of the soil. Some examples
of field properties of the soil include the soil’s density, moisture content, and frost penetration.

The standard method for classifying soils for engineering purposes is ASTM D 2487, or more commonly
known as the Unified System. One of the primary purposes in determining the soil classifications is to
have some idea of how the soil will behave under different scenarios. The Unified System classifies soil
first by grain size and then further subgroups that particular soil based upon its plasticity index.

2. Overall Pavement Thickness

Now that the engineering properties

of the soil are known, the overall
thickness of the pavement needed
throughout the airport can be
determined.
The strength of the sub grade is the
main factor in determining the
thickness of the pavement needed for
a particular application. The value of
the stiffness of the sub grade is
required if the stresses and strains in
the pavement and the sub grade are to
be calculated. Sub grade strength is
expressed in terms of its California bearing ratio (CBR) value. The CBR value is measured by
an empirical test devised by the California State Highway Association and is simply the
resistance to a penetration of 2.45nn of a standard cylindrical plunger to various penetrations in
crushed aggregate, notably 13.24kN at 2.5mm penetration and 19.96kN at 5.0mm penetration.
The CBR value can be determined by conducting various tests on collected soil samples, or it
can be obtained from a standard table provided by the Federal Aviation Administration. In the
case of the Lake Mathews Airport, the CBR value and the soil characteristics for the site was
found through a provided table. Table illustrates how the Field CBR value was found for the soil
around the Lake Mathews Airport site.

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If the worst case scenario were considered, a CBR value of 3 to 5 would be selected. In order to
be conservative, a CBR value of 4 was selected. In addition, a Field CBR value of 4 was
selected due to the fact that the CBR values range from 3 to 40 in the location of the runway and
taxiway.
Once the Field CBR value is determined, the total pavement thickness can then be found. The
overall pavement thickness is a function of both the CBR value and the maximum aircraft gross
weight. Figure 4.3 illustrates the design curve that was used to determine the pavement
thickness. With a Field CBR value of 4 and a maximum aircraft gross weight of 12,500 pounds,
the thickness of the pavement was found to be 14 inches.
3. Typical Pavement Layers
There are various types of pavement that the Federal Aviation Administration deems acceptable.
These include flexible, ridged, hot mix asphalt overlays, and ridged overlays. A pavement does
not have to consist of just one of these specific types, but rather, there can be a combination
which would result in a complex pavement ranging somewhere between flexible and ridged.
A typical pavement design consists of four distinct layers: surface, base, subbase, and subgrade.
The first layer in the pavement is the surface. The surface courses include portland cement
concrete, hot mix asphalt, sand-bituminous mixture, and sprayed bituminous surface treatments.
The subsequent layer is the base. The base courses consist of a variety of different materials
which generally fall into two main classes: treated and untreated. The untreated bases consist of
crushed or uncrushed aggregates, where as the treated bases normally consist of a crushed or
uncrushed aggregate that has been mixed with a stabilizer such as cement or bitumen. The
subbase course is the next in the pavement design layer. The subbase courses consist of a
granular material, a stabilized granular material, or a stabilized soil. The final layer consists of
the subgrade. The subgrade is the natural soil or a fill, which is compacted to a specified percent
of compaction based on the depth of compacted soil.
4. Flexible Pavement for Light Aircraft
Pavement for light aircraft is deemed by the Federal Aviation Administration as pavement
intended to serve aircraft with gross weights of less than 30,000 pounds. With the Lake
Mathews Airport being an AII-BII category airport, the maximum gross weight that the airport
can serve is 12,500 pounds. This gross aircraft weight would put the Lake Mathews Airport in
the light aircraft category.

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Flexible pavement for light aircraft is composed of hot mix asphalt surfacing, base course,
subbase, and prepared subgrade. The hot mix asphalt surface is responsible for preventing water
to seep into the base course. In addition, the hot mix asphalt must provide a smooth, well-
bonded surface free from loose particles that pose a potential threat to aircraft or persons using
the airport. The base course is the primary load carrying component of the flexible pavement.
The subbase course is usually required for flexible pavement, except for those with a CBR value
of 20 or greater. However, with a CBR value of 4 for the Lake Mathews site, a subbase course is
needed.
5. Overall Pavement Thickness
The pavement thickness of 14 inches, which was determined previously, must be used upon all
areas of airport pavement according to the Federal Aviation Administration. No reduction in
thickness should be made for “noncritical” areas of pavement. With the total pavement thickness
already determined, the next step in the pavement design process is to find the thickness of the
surfacing and the base.
Surfacing and Base Thickness
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, to find the surfacing and base thickness, the
CBR 20-line is used. Using the chart provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, the
thickness of the surfacing and base can be found. Using a CBR value of 20, as instructed by the
Federal Aviation Administration, and a maximum aircraft gross weight of 12,500 pounds, a
value of four and a half inches is obtained for the thickness of the surfacing and base. This
thickness value is rounded up to five inches in order to be conservative and also because this
base is, in essence, the structural element of the pavement. Figure 4.5 represents how the
thickness for the surfacing and base was generated.
The Federal Aviation Administration states that the minimum thickness of the hot mix asphalt
surfacing over a granular base is two inches. The reason for the minimum surfacing thickness is
that layers thinner than two inches are difficult to place and compact on granular bases. Hot mix
asphalt surfacing thickness of less than two inches is permissible on stabilized base materials if
proper lay down and compaction can be achieved. However, for the Lake Mathews Airport, a
hot mix asphalt surface of two inches will be used. This will have a corresponding base
thickness of three inches.
Subbase Thickness

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The difference between the total pavement thickness required and the CBR 20-line thickness
yields the thickness of the subbase. With a total pavement thickness of 14 inches and a surfacing
and base thickness of five inches, the total subbase thickness is required to be nine inches. Using
engineering judgment a surface thickness of four inches will be used, and a base thickness of
three inches will be used. Therefore the final thickness of the flexible pavement is 16 inches.
Subgrade
The subgrade materials need to be compacted to a specific percentage depending upon whether
the soil is noncohesive or cohesive and the design aircraft gross weight. For the Lake Mathews
Airport, with cohesive soil and a maximum gross aircraft weight of 12,500 pounds, it was
determined that the subgrade needs to be compacted to 85 percent for eight to twelve inches or
90 percent for four to eight inches in depth. If the above compaction requirements cannot be
met, then the base will need to be increased in order to accommodate the aircraft. Table 4.3
depicts how the subgrade compaction requirements for the Lake Mathews Airport were obtained.

Table 4.3. Subgrade compaction requirements for light load flexible pavement per AC 150/5320-6D.

Rigid Pavement for Light Aircraft

Rigid pavements for light aircraft are composed of Portland cement concrete surfacing, subbase,
and prepared subgrade.

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Portland Cement Surfacing : When determining the required thickness for the various rigid
pavement layers, design curves provided by the Federal Aviation Administration prove to be
exceptionally helpful. However, there are no design curves for light aircraft ridged pavement.
There are only two thickness requirements for the Portland cement surfacing; that for pavement
designed to serve aircraft weight 12,500 pounds or less and that for aircraft weighing between
12,501 pounds and 30,000 pounds. For ridged pavements designed to serve aircraft weighing
12,500 pounds or less, a Portland cement surfacing thickness of five inches is required. Rigid
pavement designed to serve aircraft weighing between 12,501 pounds and 30,000 pounds should
be six inches thick. With the Lake Mathews Airport serving aircraft with a gross weight less
than 12,500 pounds, the Portland cement surfacing thickness for rigid pavement needs to be five
inches.
Subbase: No subbase is required for rigid pavement designs intended to serve aircraft weighing
12,500 pounds or less, except when soil types OL, MH, CH, or OH is encountered. If a subbase
is needed, the Federal Aviation Administration specifies when any of the above soil types are
present, a minimum four inch subbase should be provided. Due to the fact that CH soil type was
discovered at the Lake Mathews Airport site, a subbase of four inches for the rigid pavement
design is required.
Subgrade : The Federal Aviation Administration stipulates that a subgrade comprised of
cohesive soils used in fill sections, the entire fill shall be compacted to 90 percent of the
maximum density. For cohesive soils in cut sections, the top six inches of the subgrade shall be
compacted to 90 percent of the maximum density. The Federal Aviation Administration
specifies different standards for noncohesive soils, however due to the fact that the Lake
Mathews Airport consists only of cohesive soils, these standards do not apply. For the Lake
Mathews Airport, entire fill section and the top six inches of the cut section needs to be
compacted to 90 percent.
Jointing of Light Load Rigid Pavements : The maximum spacing of joints for light load rigid
pavements should be 12.5 feet for longitudinal joints and 15 feet for transverse joints. Jointing
details for expansion joints, contraction joints, and construction joints are illustrated in Figure
4.6, Figure 4.7, and Figure 4.8 respectively.

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Fig 4.7 Expansion joint details for light load rigid pavement per AC 150/5320-6D.

Fig 4.8. Contraction joint details for light load rigid pavement per AC 150/5320-6D.

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Fig 4.9. Construction joint details for light load rigid pavement per AC 150/5320-6D.

The Federal Aviation Administration notes that several differences exist between light load and
heavy load rigid pavement joints. For example, butt-type construction and expansion joints are
permitted when an asphalt or cement stabilized subbase is provided. Also, half round-keyed
joints are permitted even though the slab thick nesses are less than nine inches. Odd-shaped slabs
should be reinforced with 0.05% steel in both directions. The Federal Aviation Administration
defines odd-shaped slabs as slabs that are not rectangular in shape, or rectangular slabs which
length-to-width ratios exceed 1.25.
For the Lake Mathews Airport, longitudinal joints are going to be placed every 12.5 feet, for a
total of six sections. In the transverse direction, joints will be placed every 15 feet. These
transverse joints will extend for the entire length of the runway.
References :
1. Prasad, Bageshwar (2007), “Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Cement Concrete Roads Vs.
Bituminous Roads”, Indian Highways, Vol.35, No.9, 19-26.
2. Haider, S. W. and Harichandran, R. S. (2008), “Relating Axle Load Spectra to Truck Gross
Vehicle Weights and Volumes”, J. Transp. Eng., 133(12), 696-705
3. Huang, W.H., Sung, Y. L. and Lin, J. D. (2002), “Development of Axle Load Distribution
for Heavy Vehicles”, Pre-Prints, 81 Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Board,
Washington, D. C.

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© INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR RESEARCH PUBLICATION & SEMINAR
ISSN: 2278-6848 | Volume: 07 Issue: 02 | April – June 2016

4. IRC:37-2001, “Guidelines for the Design of Flexible Pavements”, The Indian Roads
Congress, New Delhi.
5. IRC:58-2002, “Guidelines for the Design of Plain Jointed Rigid Pavements for Highways”
(Second Revision), Indian Roads Congress, 2002, New Delhi.
6. Liu, W. D., Cornell, C. A. and Imbsen, R.A. (1988),“Analysis of Bridge Truck Overloads”,
Probabilistic Methods in Civil Engineering, P. D. Spanos, ed., ASCE, New York, 221-224
7. Mintsis, G., Taxiltaris, C., Babas, S., Patonis, P. and Filaktakis, A. (2002), “Analyzing
Heavy Goods Vehicle Data Collected on Main Road Network in Greece”, Transportation
Research Record, 1809, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.

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