b'After an assessment is complete, Floridadispatches objective airfield inspection Airfield Maintenance provides the laborcrews to protect their interest. We are and equipment to get the job done. Theyindependently certifying whether the have a paint crew, theyre professional,contractor did what they were supposed and theyre great, Speight reports. Theyto do, he summarizes. There is better come in and do all of our big painting.accountability with this process, so airports He estimates that if JAX had completedare consistently happy with the results. a recent markings project in-house, theThis adds a layer of consistency and work would have required eight to 10 dayseffectiveness that improves on previous of runway closures. But it only took onecontracts for the program.day, because Florida Airfield Maintenance has more equipment and capabilities. ThatA Wide Range of Budgetssaves time and money, and saves impactOne thing is clear: This approach can on the FAA tower and the airlines, he adds.save airports money. The exact costs (and savings) each airport can expect arent as Finally, the statewideclear, since no two airports have the same program providesneeds. third-party quality control by AVCON Inc.,Because the program contract is a company outsideavailable to all 100+ public airfields in the joint venture. LeeFlorida, participants benefit from volume Lewis, an AVCONpricinga particular boon for smaller vice president,LEE LEWIS airports. Condition assessments help keep built upon previousthe work scopes as small as possible, and contracts by clarifying several aspects ofquality assurance checks help verify that the programs scope and better definingairports are getting what they pay for; but the role of independent quality assurance.prices vary greatly according to the specific The program is really intended to re-markwork each airport needs. existing airfield pavement markings, not toFrom Speidels perspective, the FDOT engineer new markings, Lewis explains.Statewide Airfield Pavement Management Our team is independently measuringProgram serves a public accountability Reliabletolerances and ensuring quality controlfunction. Some of our airports ask for processes per FAA P-620 technicalstate funds, he explains. So to be good solutions forstandards, not necessarily checking whetherstewards of those taxpayer dollars, we the existing markings are in compliance withwant to make sure that number one, the your airportthe marking advisory circulars.airports need what theyre asking for. Thats Before a project begins, AVCON iswhere the condition assessment can come project. deliberate in asking an airport to confirmin. And number two is the quality control that, to its knowledge, the markings are insidemaking sure that were doing well by the correct locations. In the field, wereFlorida taxpayers and the airports, too.looking at accurate application rates, properOne downside to keep in mind? As A comprehensive rangecalibration of reflective media, as well as lineword about the program continues to of drainage solutionswidths and spacing within tolerances. Butspread, demand for services by the joint from pedestrianfor the most part, were not engineering orventure of contractors is increasing. To applications to airportsurveying locations for the markings, Lewisdate, about 95 public airports participate in says. That part of the process remains thethe program. and port loadingairports responsibility. Of course, if we see environments. something in the field that appears off orThe most challenging thing ispeople doesnt look righteveryone stops and the[are realizing] how good of a deal it is, airport is given the opportunity to provideSpeight says. If youre not planning six direction. That is one of the benefits ofto nine months in advance, youre behind having firms involved who are familiar withthe power curvebut thats due to the airfields. It greatly reduces the risk of re- success of people wanting the contract.Learn more at ejco.com marking something out of compliance. As the program grows throughoutor call 800 626 4653 Lewis explains to program participantsthe state, so do the savings forMade in the USA that he attends their project meetings andairports. October 2023AirportImprovement.com'