Cooperative Agreement Marks First for Airport Research and Development
The IPRF is hoping to see ultra-thin whitetopping approved for airport
use by the FAA
 The concrete industries chartered the Innovative Pavement Research
Foundation five years ago. Its mission is to provide applied research,
technology transfer, and public education regarding concrete pavements.
The IPRF is jointly owned by the American Concrete Pavement Association,
the Portland Cement Association, and the National Ready Mixed Concrete
Association.
Under the terms of a $3.4-million cooperative agreement between IPRF
and the Federal Aviation Administration, eight research projects are under
way to investigate the best design and most efficient construction of
concrete airport pavements, according to the IPRF.
From the research, airport owners will gain the guidance they need
to upgrade their facilities to meet increasing demand. The first of these
eight IPRF-FAA projects — a best practices manual — is nearly
complete. The manual will provide contractors and design engineers with
guidelines for effective concrete pavement construction.
Another project will be a full-scale test plan for concrete pavement
overlays. To rehabilitate airport pavements, a 4-inch-plus concrete layer
over existing concrete or over asphalt is a cost-effective solution. This
test plan will be used to refine overlay techniques and go beyond the
technology of the 1950s.
The IPRF is hoping to see ultra-thin whitetopping approved for airport
use by the FAA. Accordingly, the IPRF is documenting the effectiveness of
UTW at various airport projects across the nation. This research proves
the long-term durability, high load-carrying capacity, low maintenance,
and economy of UTW for airport use. The project’s first phase, which
assesses UTW’s durability, is complete. The second phase will involve a
study of UTW’s performance under freeze-thaw cycling.
The IPRF says those three projects have succeeded and led to five new
ones launched in May 2002. One goal is to examine the testing methods that
determine when traffic can be placed on new concrete. The idea is that
proper concrete testing methods can allow for shorter construction times.
Innovative testing techniques are being evaluated — and will be tested
on full-scale pavements — to improve the acceptance criteria used in FAA
specifications.
Other goals of the IPRF’s airports research program include:
1. To recommend design criteria for stabilized and drainable bases.
2. To improve the technologies used to measure the smoothness of
airport pavement.
3. To document a number of successful fast-tracked concrete paving
projects from airports across the nation. The study will provide airport
owners with many lessons learned from the planning, cost implications,
engineering, and construction of major airport projects.
“This research makes major strides toward providing airport
construction teams with the information and technology they need to build
and rehabilitate airport pavements with concrete,” says ACPA’s Lafrenz,
who serves as the primary liaison to the IPRF for the FAA/IPRF cooperative
agreement.
Reprinted from Better Roads Magazine
September 2002 |
