PERFORMANCE, REPAIR NEEDS AND RENOVATION OF PLAIN CONCRETE PAVEMENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The runway and the traffic areas of the Zia International Airport (ZIA) at Dhaka, Bangladesh were constructed with plain concrete during 1968–69. Due to noncompletion of ancillary structures and other facilities the airport was not opened to routine air traffic till 1980. Subsequently the airport was opened to wide body aircraft in the mideighties though the runway and other areas were not initially designed for their use. The slab panels of the runway developed cracks even before the airport was opened to traffic. Such cracks became wider and propagated randomly with the operation of air traffic. The poor performance of the runway pavement demanded immediate repair and renovation works to be taken up in the early nineties since that was the only operational runway at the International Airport in Bangladesh. A crack survey revealed extensive cracks ranging from a few millimetres to more than 50 mm wide. In order to determine the repair needs, sub-grade soil characteristics, testing of concrete core samples taken from the runway, detail classification and condition of cracks were investigated. The methodology to renovate the entire runway and other air traffic areas included removing the patch repair works executed earlier, repairing the cracks of various widths, placing high density fabric over the cracks, joints and repaired areas and finally constructing the hot-mix asphalt overlay in 2–3 layers on the entire pavement area. The repair works and overlay constructions were carried out at night keeping the runway operational during the day. Since the completion of the repair and renovation works in 1996 the runway has been in service and no sign of distress has been observed.

• INTRODUCTION

• CRACKS IN RUNWAY PAVEMENT

• SOIL INVESTIGATION PROGRAMME

• STRENGTH OF CONCRETE IN PAVEMENT

• PREPARATION OF PAVEMENT FOR OVERLAY

• REPAIR METHODOLOGY FOR CRACKS IN PAVEMENT

• CONCLUSIONS

• REFERENCES