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Maintenance and repair of airfield apron rigid pavements

Article  in  Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board · January 2002

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Pasquale Colonna Vittorio Ranieri

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Maintenance and repair of airfield apron rigid pavements
Pasquale Colonna & Vittorio Ranieri
Department of Highways and Transportation, Polytechnic of Bari, Bari, Italy

Keywords: maintenance, repair, concrete, apron, fiber

ABSTRACT: after about 20 years in service, large sections of the concrete apron at Bari Civil Air-
port (Italy) shows evident structural problems. Slabs are principally affected by structural cracks
and by shallow and deep spallings at joints. Present and forecast traffic data were collected and
compared with the bearing capacity of the pavement as well as with typologies and positions of dis-
tresses. In particular it has been assessed that construction joints fatigue life has nearly expired.
According to the results of field investigations, the effectiveness of current repair methods was in-
vestigated and original repair methods were developed both for spalled and cracked slabs. They
concern the partial reconstruction of slabs with a double layer of a new fibro–reinforced concrete.
Some trial repairs were carried out. After one year they showed no structural problems. So repairs
are now in progress on the main apron of Bari Civil Airport using these construction methods.

1 INTRODUCTION

Sections of the concrete main apron at Bari civil airports had badly deteriorated in the last five
years. The apron pavement has been in service for approximately 20 years. The repairs were inves-
tigated and found to be extremely widespread. In order to understand the real nature of slab defects
and the pavement bearing capacity, some field tests were carried out. The aim was to compare
these data to past and forecast airplane movements so as to provide optimal repair methods.
1.1 The main apron at Bari – Palese Civil Airport
The main apron at Bari – Palese Civil Airport was constructed in 1983. Its dimensions are 150 x 79
m2 with 5.0 m square slabs without dowel bars at the joints. The concrete slabs have a strength of
40 MPa and they are placed on a 100 mm granular base course (Colonna 1983). A 20 mm bed of
sand is interposed between the slabs and the base course. The substratum consists of limestone
rocks.
The apron is surrounded by gullies. Construction joints are a “W” shaped, parallel to the longest
side and 5 m spaced with transverse joints that are each 5.0 m too. Expansion joints are placed
along the whole perimeter (between gullies and slabs) and in the middle of the apron (parallel to
the shortest side). The shapes of these joints are shown in Figure 1.
1.2 Traffic data
Since the apron has built, the traffic volume has increased from the 2699 departures in 1983 to
8782 in 1999. The trend of the air traffic growth is appreciable in Figure 2. The total number of de-
partures has approximately tripled since 1983 and the large increase in departures in the last four
years is evident.
On average, 75% of this traffic has operated from the three stand positions of the main apron in
the last four years. It means that in 1999 an amount of about 6500 airplanes loaded its slabs.

1
Figure 1. Joints at the main apron of Bari – Palese Civil Airport.

Annual Departures at Bari - Palese Civil Airport

1983 - 1999
9000

8000

7000

N
6000
O
T
Departures

5000

A
4000 V
A
3000 I
L
A
2000 B
L
1000 E

0
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Departures 2699 3010 3143 3018 3234 4923 4685 4686 4377 5227 6175 5654 5070 6596 7603 N.A. 8782

Figure 2. Total annual departures at Bari – Palese Civil Airport from 1983 to 1999.

Figure 3 shows the total number of departures in 1999 at Bari – Palese Civil Airport grouped by
airplanes type. Currently almost all movements (98%) consists of MD 80 series and other mid-
dle/short range airplanes, all characterized by a maximum ramp weight not greater than approx
65,000 kg. In the last 20 years the airport has operated principally with middle/short range air-
planes. In fact the air traffic composition is almost unchanged since the MD 80 series (maximum
ramp weight: 68,000 kg) replaced the DC 9 series (maximum ramp weight: 55,000 kg).
Therefore, according to the structural problems further discussed (see Section 2), the causes of
apron rapid deterioration are to be found more in the growth of the number of departures than in the
growth of weight of airplanes.

2
1.3 Forecast movements
Figure 4 shows annual departures forecasted for Bari – Palese Civil Airport. The forecast amount
of departures from the current main apron is also given. On average, no more than 20% departures
are expected to use it. This because a new passenger terminal with the corresponding front apron
are under construction at Bari – Palese Civil Airport. When operating, this new apron will become
the main apron and the current one, which is the farthest away apron from the new terminal, will be
used much less. A decrease in departures is therefore expected to operate on it.

Departures at Bari - Palese Civil Airport Grouped by Airplanes Type

- 1999 -

ATR 42/72 Departures: 8762

Long range airplanes
2%
2%
Bae 146
3% Long range airplanes
Other regional
ATR 42/72
airplanes
9% B 737 Bae 146
14%
B 737

DO 328

MD 80 Series

Other regional airplanes

MD 80 Series DO 328
47% 23%

Figure 3. Departures at Bari – Palese Civil Airport grouped by airplanes type - 1999.

Traffic growth at Bari - Palese Civil Airport

1990 - 2020
20000

15000
Departures

10000 Total amount of

departures
Departures from the
current main apron

5000

0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Years

Figure 4. Forecast departures at Bari – Palese Civil Airport.

1.4 Damage
All damage affecting the apron has been pointed out, listed, photographed and analyzed.
Four kinds of distress were mainly recognized: (1) defective joint seals, (2) shallow spallings at
arris, (3) deep spallings at construction joints, and (4) Slab cracks.

3
 Figure 5 contains the inspection sheet which was completed during the survey; it shows how
most of distresses are strictly localized around the lead in lines to the apron’s stand positions. It
states that distresses are due to fatigue phenomena, quite normal after about 20 years in service.

Figure 5. Inspection record of distresses recognized on concrete slabs of Bari – Palese Civil Airport.

1.5 Repairs
Actual concrete slabs repair techniques were investigated to find the most adaptive in the present
case. The available budget and the expected decrease in movements were the two factors which
were mainly token in account in studying the problem. As discussed in further sections, overlaying
methods were considered too expensive and rejected while local repair methods were found to be

4
more adaptive and adopted. Some new techniques were also developed for deep spalling and crack
repairs.

2 DAMAGE DESCRIPTION AND POSSIBLE CAUSES

2.1 Defective joint seals

This defect is mainly due to time wear. It has been found to be extremely common at the wider
joints (expansion joints) and is probably due to their own dimensions. In fact, the greater the sur-
face exposed to the weather agents, the higher is the probability that hardening and oxidation of the
sealant occur.
2.2 Shallow spallings at arris
This defect is widely present on the apron. Figures 6a, b and 7a, b show typical shallow spallings
and their schematic representation. Mostly they are caused by the intrusion of incompressible parti-
cles into the joint groove. These particles cause a local increase in stresses that gives rise to con-
crete compression failure. Otherwise, this defect could also be caused by a imperfectly executed
joint. When slabs shrink, the concrete finds a new crack path close to the non functioning joint.

b)
Figures 6a, b. Examples of shallow spallings at construction joints

b)
Figures 7a, b. Examples of shallow spallings at construction joints

2.3 Deep spallings at construction joints

This is largely the most widespread type of damage to the apron. It can be found both at the arris
and at the corner of slabs (Fig. 8a, b, c). Some particular investigations have been carried out in or-
der to understand the path of cracks inside the slabs. Cracks start from the top of the protuberance
of the opposite slab and reflects upon the surface following a path at an angle of 45°. As the top of

5
the projection is 125 mm in depth, all the cracks associated with this damage propagate up to the
surface about 200 mm from the edge of the slab.

2.3.1 Possible causes of damage

As mentioned above, almost all damage is located close to the lead in lines. Thus, this kind of dis-
tresses can be included among the structural failure due to concrete fatigue phenomena. Due to the
particular shape of the joint, concrete fatigue phenomena occurred principally because of beam
compression stresses involved at the junction between the slab and the upper jag of the joint. In
some cases, because of the presence of some cracks that are orthogonal to the joint (Fig. 8b), it is
probable that compression failures also occurred.

2.3.2 Failure calculation

The upper jag of the construction joint can be considered as a cantilever beam, 30 mm long and
125 mm thick, loaded by airplanes wheels.
Given the DC9 - 41 as the characteristic airplane (maximum take off weight: 51,700 kg; dual
wheel main gear; tire pressure: 11.48 kg/cm2 ) and 40 MPa the concrete mean bending strength, the
residual operational life was calculated by using the Miner’s law.
The 89% of in service life was found to be expired. Since this finding is based on average val-
ues, it is not surprising that slab damage occurred and, in a short time, a lot more damage should be
expected if no repair action is carried out.

c)
Figure 8a, b. Examples of deep spallings at corner (a) and at arris (b)

Figure 9a, b. Views of a lead in line to the main apron at Bari – Palese Civil Airport. The cracked slabs and
the peg between the taxiway and the gully are both visible

2.4 Slab cracks

Four apron sections are badly affected by this defect. These cracks extend through the full thic k-
ness of the slabs and across them from side to side: slabs are therefore divided into two or more

6
portions structurally independent. Cracked slabs are located along the lead in lines around the gul-
lies (Fig. 9a). Their structural failure is mainly caused by sub-base settlement. In fact, other sec-
tions away from gullies show no structural problems, while it was found that all the expansion
joints between gullies and slabs had seal problems (see Section 2.4). It is probable that, because of
rain water infiltration through joint grooves, the smallest particles of the unbounded base course
might have been lost, consequently reducing its bearing capacity.
Another circumstance can be considered in order to understand both cracks and defective seals
at joints between the gully beside the taxiway and the apron, is the presence of a 20 mm peg be-
tween the gully and the flexible pavement of the taxiway (Fig. 9b).
Each time an airplane enters the apron, the presence of this peg causes repeated "shots" to the
structures (gully, joints and slabs). This problem has been investigated and solved by overlaying a
0.60 m wide strip of bituminous pavement beside the gully.

3 STANDARD REPAIR METHODS

When damage like that above mentioned occurs, two repair approaches are available in order to re-
store the integrity of the slabs: local repair or global structural strengthening. The last solution is
necessary to increase the structural strength of concrete either to increase its load carrying capacity
and extend its operational life or because the structural condition of the existing slabs has deterio-
rated to the point that they are no longer able to carry traffic. This solution may involve the recon-
struction of the existing pavement or with the construction of overlays (concrete or bituminous).
These techniques have been successfully adopted in many airfield repairs (Potter & Cook 1998,
Magnifico et al. 2001, Van Wijk et al. 1998). When a non critical growth of traffic is expected or
when the general structural conditions of the slabs is good, economic considerations lead to the
adoption of local repair methods. Table 1 lists the defects mentioned in Section 1.3 with the appro-
priate local repair techniques (Mildenhall & Northcott 1986, Domenichini et al. 1992).

Table 1. List of distresses with the appropriate remedy.

Distress Repair techniques
Defective joint seal Remove the old seal, thoroughly clean out, prepare groove and re-seal.
Shallow spalling Minor spalling should be removed by widening the joint groove locally (by sawing up
to 40 mm wide at contraction joints and 30 mm wide at expansion joints) in conjunc-
tion with flat grinding as necessary.
Spallings which cannot be dealt with using this procedure, should be treated first by
removing the old seal and than by replacing the unsound concrete with repair material.
The repair section should be included in a regular area (possibly a rectangle or square)
at least 150 mm x 150 mm and 50 mm beyond the unsound concrete; its depth should
be at least 20 mm. Later, a new sealant should be placed into the groove.
Deep spalling This should be treated in the same way as the worst shallow spallings. The difference is
in the depth of the repair and in the area of concrete to be replaced that should be
wider. If the unsound concrete extends through half the depth of the slab (or more),
deep spalling should be treated in the same way as a slab crack.
Slab crack Minor cracks, when no settlement between slab portions occurred and no problem are
expected at the base or sub-base courses, could be repaired by sealing them or by bind-
ing the two portions using special resinous materials. When the above mentioned con-
ditions are not found, cracks should be repaired in a more radical way. The slab should
be sawed through its full depth encompassing the crack with a regular shape, the con-
crete broken out and removed from the repair area; the sub-base and separation layer
reinstated as necessary before laying new concrete. This could be bound to the old slab
portion by using epoxy resins or (better) it could be jointed to it. In this case, before
laying the new concrete groove formers should be placed all around in the vertical ex-
posed face of the slab and dowel bars should be fixed in order to ensure load transfer.

7
4 THE REPAIR METHODS ADOPTED

Local repair techniques were adopted. This decision was taken because no further traffic increases
are expected. On the contrary a decrease in traffic is expected. In fact at Bari - Palese Civil Airport
a new passenger terminal with the corresponding apron are under construction and it is planned that
the current passenger terminal with its main apron will be transformed for cargo use only.
4.1 Defective joint seals
No particular solutions have been provided for these repairs. The old sealant has to be removed and
the groove brushed. Then, depending on the width of the groove, either a 15 mm or 25 mm diame-
ter polyethylene cord has to be inserted and sealed with a resin-tar compound.
4.2 Shallow spallings at arris
The repair methodology provided is quite similar to that shown in Table 1, but some improvements
have been carried out. First, the old concrete should be removed to a depth of at least 30 mm and, if
a saw is used to mark the repair zone, all the smooth surfaces should be granulated. Then the repair
material, which is a shrinkage controlled cement mortar reinforced with plastic micro-fibers, should
be applied. It is capable of a compression strength up to 60 MPa and of a bending strength up to 9
MPa. In order to achieve rapid setting it should be mixed in a 0.16 water/cement ratio. Further-
more, before use, an epoxy resin adhesive should be applied to the exposed surface of the existing
concrete.
4.3 Deep spallings at construction joint
Also in this case some improvements to the procedure described in Section 3 have been made. Be-
cause of the depth of repair sections (Fig. 10a), a double layer of concrete was proposed.
The first is a shrinkage controlled cement concrete reinforced with 50 kg of steel fibers (40/80)
per m3 of mix. The concrete consists of the same mortar utilized for the shallow spalling repairs,
mixed in a ratio of 2:1 with lime particles 3 to 15 mm in size. The water/cement ratio was 0.17. As
seen in the previous Section, before placing the new mix, all the smooth surfaces of the existing
concrete should be granulated and an epoxide adhesive should be applied. The first layer should be
placed up to a depth of 20 mm below the upper surface of the slab.
Furthermore, in order to achieve better grip resistance between the two layers, some steel fibers
should be fixed in the surface of the lower layer, one every 50 mm2 as shown in Figure 10b. They
should be fixed half an hour after the first layer has been placed but not later than 1 hour.
The concrete for the second layer (20 mm) was of the same kind as the previous layer but with
lime particles 3 to 8 mm in size (mixed in the cement in the same ratio) and without any steel fi-
bers.

Figures 10a, b. View of two phases of deep spalling repairs

8
 Fibers are necessary to achieve the strength needed to contrast the high stress due both to the
particular "W" shape of the construction joint and to the depth of the repair section. However it is
well known that steel fibers cause problems to tires. Thus the choice of a double concrete layer, the
uppermost without fibers.
4.4 Slab cracks
According to the local repair methods mentioned in Sections 3 and 4.3, the following three repair
actions were studied and proposed to the Airport Authority:
− crack sealing using a resinous epoxy compound;
− total or partial reconstruction of the damaged slabs (depending on the severity of the damage)
following the main steps briefly here described: 1) saw the slab through its full depth encom-
passing the crack with a regular shape; 2) break out and remove the concrete from the repair
area; 3) drill a hole at lest 20 mm in diameter every 250 mm along the vertical exposed face of
the old slab at mid depth; 4) reinstate the sub-base and separation layers as necessary; 5) stick in
each of the previously drilled holes a one half of a φ 20 mm, 400 mm long dowel bars; the other
half of the bar should be covered with grease; 6) stick groove formers along the top edge of the
surrounding slab; 7) place the two new concrete layers in the way described in Section 4.3. The
first layer should be 29 cm in depth and built with a 40 Mpa strength shrinkage controlled con-
crete (particles Dmax = 30 mm) reinforced with 50 kg/m3 of 60/80 steel fibers. Once placed, after
half an hour, 8 φ 6 mm per m2 (60 mm long) dowel bars should be inserted in the concrete nor-
mally into the surface so that only a portion of 10 mm protrudes. After 36 hours the upper con-
crete layer should be laid after spreading an epoxide adhesive. This layer should be 3 cm in
depth and built with the same concrete as the upper one mentioned in Section 4.3.
− total or partial reconstruction of the injured slabs (depending on the severity of the damage) us-
ing a single type of concrete. It should be 40 Mpa strength shrinkage controlled concrete (parti-
cles Dmax = 30 mm) without any reinforcement fibers.
4.5 Tests
The repair method of deep spallings was tested on October 2000 on the apron. Work took two days
and the lead in path was opened to air traffic after four days. After more than one year these repairs
show no structural problems. On the basis of this result, the Airport Authority has authorized re-
pairs to the whole main apron and has also chosen to adopt the double concrete layer method for
crack repairs.
Construction is in progress and where already completed no structural problems arose.
4.6 Effectiveness of the proposed repair method and costs
The effectiveness of the proposed repair method was compared to present methods. Figures 11a, b
show pavement deterioration/rehabilitation relationships. Figure 11a shows pavement deterioration
curves as a function of load cycles for the current pavement before and after rehabilitation by using
a traditional local repair method, the proposed one and an overlay respectively. Figure 11b shows
the same pavement deterioration curves as a function of in service life of the pavement. All the de-
terioration curves after rehabilitation have shapes less steep than the original one because of the
forecast decrease in movements.
Assuming that the repaired pavement has to operate 15 years more, the intersection between the
horizontal and vertical lines drawn through the quality drop threshold for next rehabilitation and the
design in service expiry year respectively, shows that the proposed method is more effective than
others.
Where applied, this local repair methodology ensures better strength improvements than tradi-
tional repair methods against a few increase in economic terms. The need for skilled labour and of
special compounds raises costs by about the 35%.
Otherwise overlaying methods are much more expensive than the proposed method even if they
ensure the highest strength improvements. But the low traffic that is expected to operate on the
apron in the future make this solution ineffective.

9
 a) b)

EXIPIRY YEAR
Overlaying Overlaying
40
Current
Equivalent Thickness - cm

DESIGN
Pavement Proposed VERY
GOOD
method

Performance Index
30 Proposed
GOOD Current method
Pavement
20
FAIR Traditional
local repairs
Traditional QUALITY THRESHOLD FOR
10 POOR NEXT REHABILITATION
local repairs
VERY
POOR
0
60,000 120,000 180,000 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Load Cycles Years
Figures 11a, b. Pavement deterioration/rehabilitation relationships

5 CONCLUSIONS

The arrival on the market of new products capable of greatly improving the strength of concrete
mixes, allowed the development of new methodologies for the repair of concrete structures. In par-
ticular an original methodology was set up for the local repair of spallings and cracks on apron
concrete pavements where decreases in traffic are expected. This repair solution was compared to
other technologies and its effectiveness was established in a case of study.
It was successfully tested at Bari – Palese Civil Airport (Italy) and the Airport Authority de-
cided to extend the use of this method to the repair of all the distressed slabs on its main apron.
Work is now in progress and some tests have already been programmed to verify the response
of the repaired slabs to traffic loads.

REFERENCES

Colonna, P. 1983. Aspetti tecnologici dei materiali utilizzati per la costruzione di infrastrutture aeropor-
tuali: applicazione relativa ai lavori di realizzazione delle opere di completamento dell’aeroporto di Bari. In
Quarry and Construction n. 6/1983.
Domenichini, L. et al. 1992. Pavimentazioni stradali in calcestruzzo: progettazione realizzazione e con-
trolli. Roma: Italcementi
Potter, J. & Cook, J. 1998. Trials to minimize reflection cracking in UK military airfields pavements.
Bearing capacity of roads and airfields; Proc. of fifth int. conf., Trondheim, Norway, 6-8 July 1998. Rasmus
S. Nordal
Magnifico, G. et al 2001. Interventi su pavimentazioni degradate. In Le Strade n. 7-8/2001.
Mildenhall, M. M. & Northcott, G.D.S. 1986. A manual for the maintenance and repair of concrete
roads. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office
Van Wijk, D. et al. 1998. Use of segmental block paving on airfield aprons. Bearing capacity of roads and
airfields; Proc. of fifth int. conf., Trondheim, Norway, 6-8 July 1998. Rasmus S. Nordal

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