In mid-October, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) completed the full reconstruction of Runway 17R-35L. The 14-month initiative included a high-density asphalt overlay for the entire 13,400-foot surface, as well as drainage improvements, LED lighting, signage and deicing infrastructure. Notably, it was finished in record time and the work caused minimal impact to operations. Mohamed Charkas, executive vice president of Infrastructure and Development at DFW, says the strategic phasing plan that made it all possible is a great example of thinking outside the box to redeploy an asset to service.
The $257 million project was the third complete runway rehabilitation at DFW in the last seven years, and was part of the airport’s $9 billion Capital Improvement Plan. Originally constructed in 1974, Runway 17R-35L is one of seven at DFW and handles fully 50% of the busy airport’s departures, making it crucial to everyday operations. While there had been improvements to 17R-35L over the years, this was its first major rehabilitation. “We have patched it up, we had small works here and there, but definitely this is the main and most major work we’ve done,” Charkas says.
DFW received a $45 million FAA Airport Infrastructure Grant under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to assist in funding the $257 million investment. The rehabilitation project was completed by Austin Bridge & Road, with design by AtkinsRéalis and program management by Airfield Management Partners JV, a joint venture between AECOM and H.J. Russell.
 facts&figures
Project: Runway Rehabilitation Location: Dallas Fort Worth Int’l Airport Runway: 17R-35L Size: 13,400 ft. long, 200 ft. wide Project Scope: 2.68 million sq. ft. of new runway surface; 2,725 lights replaced with energy efficient LEDs Cost: $257 million FAA Funding: $45 million Airport Infrastructure Grant under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Planning, Design & Phasing: Began in early 2022, lasted about 1 year Construction Closure: Aug. 2023 Partial Reopening: May 2024 (9,275 ft. for peak season) Opened at Full Length: Oct. 11, 2024 Component of: $9 billion Capital Improvement Plan Designer: AtkinsRéalis Program Manager: AECOM/H.J. Russell Contractor: Austin Bridge & Road High-Density Asphalt Overlay: Austin Bridge & Road Drainage System: Austin Bridge & Road LED Lighting: EAS Contracting Signage: EAS Contracting Deicing Infrastructure: Austin Bridge & Road Noteworthy Details: 350,000+ work hours with no recordable safety accidents; 300,000+ cubic yds. of reclaimed concrete were recycled & reused for runway & other projects |
Collective Innovation
In 2018, DFW’s engineering evaluation process and condition assessments determined that the aging runway would need a full rehabilitation within five years. Planning for the comprehensive project began in early 2022, including development of the phasing approach that proved to be so pivotal.
Because Runway 17R-35L is such a crucial piece of the DFW machine, Charkas emphasizes that it was imperative for all stakeholders to be represented during planning to ensure safe, secure and timely delivery. “Everybody came to the table with pretty much an open mind and wanted to have a solution,” he remarks.
Rafat Sadat, senior project manager with AECOM, notes that extensive coordination was needed with the airlines, FAA and airfield operations to come up with the most efficient design and phasing to minimize operational impacts.
At 13,400 feet long and 200 feet wide, Runway 17R-35L is not only one of DFW’s widest runways, it is also the primary departure option on the east side of the airfield. As such, it was important for the project team to maintain accessibility to end-around taxiways on both the north and south ends of it—as well as connectors in the middle—throughout construction.
Design, planning and detailed sequencing of the complex project took about a year. Initially, the design team planned to divide work among three phases to support ongoing airline operations. The northern and southern thresholds would be replaced separately, keeping the middle of the runway open.
“Then, the team came up with this really creative idea,” Charkas shares. Instead of three phases, the project was reduced to just two. Preliminary work was completed on one of the thresholds, and then DFW fully closed Runway 17R-35L in August 2023 after the busy summer travel season ended.
In just nine months, crews completed a full asphalt overlay on about two-thirds of the runway’s total length. They finished one week ahead of schedule and just in time to allow 17R-35L to reopen in a shortened configuration of 9,275 feet for the next summer uptick. This 9,275-foot length allowed 90% of DFW’s fleet mix to use the key departure runway during the busy summer travel season while work continued on the remaining southern one-third of the pavement. The entire newly resurfaced runway reopened on Oct. 11, 2024.
“Everybody collaborated because of the importance of the return of the asset to service,” explains Charkas.
Future maintenance was also a key consideration, which is why the airport opted for a hybrid of high-density asphalt over concrete in lieu of a concrete surface for the project. “You can mill and overlay in a shorter period of time, hence you don’t have to take the runway out for many, many months,” Charkas explains.
With a high-density mix asphalt overlay rather than full concrete, the repair cycle becomes much easier and less impactful to operations, Sadat agrees. This is a tested approach for the airport, as the first asphalt runway at DFW was completed in 2018, and that asphalt surface is outlasting its expected five- to seven-year lifespan. “Based on the course the team is taking and the evaluation, we believe we still have two to three years until the first asphalt overlay is needed,” Charkas notes. “Hence, we believe that staying on the asphalt course really benefits DFW both in the project timeline and for the lifecycle of the product.”
In addition to resurfacing 17R-35L, DFW installed a new lighting vault to power the east airfield. At 50 years old, the original lighting vault was also due for rehabilitation, so the airport scheduled it concurrently. “Substantial completion of the vault was 15 days prior to 17R, and, hence, the electric power to supply the lights on the new runway came from the new, updated lighting vault we constructed,” says Charkas.
Challenges and Triumphs
The project team used concrete maturity meters to help move the runway work along at an aggressive pace. Crew members placed meters into the concrete, about 4 inches from the top, to help determine when pavement was ready for subsequent work. The tools provided real-time information about concrete temperature and strain on the sensors, which are indicators of concrete strength. “Those gave us a secondary data point to make educated decisions on when to open surfaces,” Sadat explains.
In addition to an ambitious timeline, team members faced other challenges, including supply chain issues and volatile material prices. An industry-wide fly ash shortage inspired the contractor and designer to work together to develop an alternative mix design that helped avoid schedule delays.
A keen awareness of other projects, especially the lighting vault, was also important to minimizing impacts on airline schedules at the busy airport. “Understanding how our project fits into the overall program at DFW was extremely important,” says Kara Bymers, project director, AtkinsRealis. During design and construction, teams coordinated extensively to ensure that projects were not impeding each other. “Our success is their success and vice versa,” Bymers notes.
Communication among team members helped keep the project on task and on time through all of the challenges, says Charkas. “It was extremely challenging, but most important is the advantage that we took by having all parties at the table and the buy-in to open the runway and redeploy the asset in record time.”
Environmental Considerations
Recycling old concrete removed from the runway keel fit with DFW’s system-wide commitment to sustainability. Thanks to its East Materials Management Site, 330,000 cubic yards of crushed concrete was processed on-site for re-use in various airport projects, including in the new subbase for the shoulders on Runway 17R-35L. “Having that in our backyard played a big element in our success,” Charkas notes. “We didn’t have to travel across town…it was our own, and that helped us from a sustainability point that we didn’t send debris to the landfill.”
By processing old runway concrete at its own materials management site, the airport reduced the need to truck in new material.
Bringing in new material involves significant cost and negative environmental effects, Bymers agrees. “DFW is a carbon-neutral airport and they take that very seriously,” she says. “We considered various materials in our pavement design to make sure that we were meeting the airport’s objectives of sustainability.”
All runway lights were replaced with energy-saving LED fixtures.
Committed to Safety
Airport officials and project partners are proud that the fast-tracked project was completed in about 350,000 work hours without any reportable safety accidents. “We were working at the speed of light, but with all of that, no compromise was made and no shortcuts were taken that would compromise safety,” Charkas emphasizes.
“There was a lot of commitment and respect for safety, rules and processes,” Sadat agrees.
Bymers attributes the project’s laudable record to a heightened awareness of safety by the contractors. “Safety was the first topic of every weekly construction meeting,” she adds.
Digital Asset Management
Since 2013, every project at DFW has included building information modeling that subsequently feeds information into the airport’s 3D digital twin. Charkas says the goal is for all 17,000 acres of the campus to have a place in the asset management technology by 2030. “The digital twin gives you that single source of truth and allows you to be predictive rather than reactive,” he explains.
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AtkinsRéalis completed the first 3D civil/building information model that will be integrated into DFW’s digital twin. Errick Gray, the firm’s digital design director, says such tools can streamline construction, improve coordination and minimize operational impacts. Data from DFW’s digital model was fed into a visualization tool dashboard to track assets and monitor as-built progress and contractor compliance with DFW’s Digital Facilities and Infrastructure Standards Manual and the approved BIM Execution Plan.
All that information is being tapped to help plan maintenance, predict asset replacement and estimate lifecycle costs. The data becomes even more valuable when it can be displayed in real-world context and queried in a 3D environment, Gray notes.
Bymers describes DFW as a leader in asset management modeling and the use of digital twins. “As designers, from day one, we were asked to make sure that all of our information was modeled correctly,” she reports. Having a detailed record of every asset on the project is “very big for the airport,” she adds.
It Worked!
“It was a very innovative program and very aggressive schedule, but we knew we had great partners and a great relationship with American Airlines and FAA,” Charkas says of the recent runway rehabilitation.
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Key project partners agree that the strategic phasing could not have been achieved without a close working relationship among all stakeholders. “Decisions were made together, not in silos,” says Sadat.
Not only did the project prove to be minimally disruptive to operations, but DFW was able to maintain the growth it projected for the year. “We continued jumping in passengers year-over-year and did not get stuck because 50% of our departure rate was impacted by that runway,” Charkas reports.
“Key to the success is the competency of our contractor and our program management and the level of confidence and transparency and the relationship we have with our own DFW team, American Airlines and FAA,” he adds. “You have to have all those parties at the table and they have to be the parties of the willing.”
Looking back at the completed project, Bymers highlights its unusual nature and ultimate accomplishment. “It’s not every day that you reduce a runway by a third and are still able to accommodate most of the fleet mix,” she remarks. “It was a successful phasing strategy.”
The next runway that will be reconstructed at DFW is 18L-36R. In December 2024, that project was currently in design and anticipated to begin construction in about 18 months. It is yet another element in the airport’s $9 billion Capital Improvement Plan that includes more than 180 major upgrades, expansions and new facilities across the airfield, terminals and roadways.
Charkas notes that recent and future runway rehabilitations, combined with other airfield improvements, will provide DFW flexibility and efficiency to continue meeting air travel demands and eventually serve 100 million annual passengers.
