Closing a runway for any amount of time is hardly a popular idea. However, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) recently found that a series of weekend closures was the best way to perform necessary upgrades at its busy airfield safely and efficiently.
Repairing and maintaining runways without disrupting flight operations is a universal goal for airport operators. This summer, Yellowknife Airport (YZF), in Canada's Northwest Territories, managed to strip the rubber residue from its main runway and secondary runway in two days-without causing any interruptions to service or using harsh chemicals.
As a joint-use airport, Charleston International (CHS) serves a diverse mix of traffic. On any given day, the South Carolina airfield accommodates a variety of commercial airliners and U.S. Air Force aircraft, including mammoth C-17 transporters. It also has enough general aviation traffic to support two fixed-base operators and is home to Boeing's only final assembly plant for the 787 Dreamliner outside of Everett, WA. The unique blend of traffic at CHS is evident whenever a new Dreamliner taxis by the main terminal for a test flight or ground evaluation, and passengers in the boarding lounges buzz with excitement.
Aéroports de Montréal recently rehabilitated the primary runway at Montreal-Mirabel International (YMX), one of the three largest aeronautical centers in the world and a major hub for Quebec's economy that serves 24 cargo airlines and a host of corporate and military tenants.
Completing airfield construction around the hustle and bustle of fully operational commercial service is challenging enough. But the margin for error is almost nonexistent when flights are grounded right before Christmas and the work window is just 15 days.
Sitting on a small, exclusive island off the southeast coast of Georgia, McKinnon St. Simons Island Airport (SSI) serves an upscale population of private aircraft operators. Nevertheless, the airport faced a distinct financial quandary when it needed to resurface its badly deteriorating secondary runway: such projects are not eligible for FAA Airport Improvement
Program funds.
In metropolitan Atlanta, locals commonly refer to the complex roadway intersection where Interstate 85 meets Interstate 285 as Spaghetti Junction. But it's not the only interchange to earn the descriptive moniker.
Like many airports, Grand Junction Regional (GJT) performs its airfield repairs late at night and early in the morning to avoid disrupting flight operations. Naturally, this stretches projects across more days because crews work in shorter shifts.
There's more to the new $8 million main runway at Porter County Regional Airport (VPZ) in Valparaiso, IN, than meets the eye. Its point of difference lies beneath the surface in a sub-base built primarily with materials recycled from the previous ailing runway via a process called full-depth reclamation.
With a notoriously vexing airfield configuration, Long Beach Airport (LGB) in southern California is leading the charge for an FAA initiative to reduce runway incursions throughout the United States.
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) recently completed the reconstruction of one of its primary arrivals runways, 4L-22R, and several associated taxiways. Major construction began in April 2016, and the runway reopened just seven months later in early November.
Before Coles County Memorial Airport (MTO) in Mattoon, IL, reconstructed its 41-year-old main runway, the project team looked far and wide for the best way to keep costs down and cause the least possible disruption of day-to-day operations. The preferred strategy' Rubblization, a process that breaks down existing concrete into small, uniform chunks, thereby making it an ideal base for subsequent layers of asphalt or concrete.
