CHAPTER 4

Construction Activities and Pavement Maintenance

Construction Activities

VSRs often serve as haul roads for airport construction projects. AC 150/5370-2G provides guidelines for operational safety during construction. The AC identifies a Construction Safety and Phasing Plan (CSPP) to enhance safety during a project. The CSPP involves identifying affected areas, describing current operations, allowing for temporary changes to operations, taking required measures to revise operations, and managing safety risks. The guidelines recommend that the CSPP include specific requirements for vehicles and pedestrians, including determining contractor access and haul roads. The AC recommends that construction contractors only use approved and clearly marked access or haul roads to prevent inadvertent entry to airport operations areas. The AC also indicates that access or haul roads are planned not to affect ARFF response right-of-way or interfere with NAVAIDs or runway approach surfaces. One of the interviewed airports indicated that VSR planning for their CSPPs gets as much attention as any other aspect of the project.

The interviews with airports revealed many strategies for accommodating construction vehicle traffic and ensuring that VSRs are operational and maintained during and after the project is completed. Following are several examples that were mentioned during the interviews with airport personnel.

• Existing VSRs and New Haul Roads
  • Patch the VSR before use as a haul road to ensure there is no foreign object debris (FOD).
  • Design VSRs for construction vehicles that typically have a heavier weight.
  • Haul roads are constructed for large projects or when a more direct route is available.
  • Construct separate construction gates for staging and entry of construction vehicles.
• Construction Requirements
  • Repair or replace a VSR when the construction project is completed.
  • Emphasize the height of structures in construction documents.
  • Flaggers to guard active taxiways from construction traffic as they are less familiar with VSR operations.
  • Temporarily place signage along haul roads to keep contractors from using certain roadways (Figure 38).
  • Vacuums and sweepers are required to keep VSRs clean and prevent FOD from entering the airfield.
  • Utilize escorts for construction vehicles operating on VSRs and limit the number of construction vehicles that can be escorted.
  • Construction workers who drive vehicles within the AOA must complete a safety training course.

• AOA/Perimeter Fencing
  • Position construction projects outside the AOA fence to maintain separate entrances and staging areas.
  • Restrict heavy construction vehicles from VSRs and use taxiway pavement to escort vehicles that could wear existing VSRs.
  • Utilize existing taxiway pavement as a haul road and construction storage and staging areas.

At BNA, a haul road was utilized to provide a separate staging area and security gate for a taxiway construction project (Figure 39). The haul road was initially created for an apron construction project and was subsequently extended and adapted for the taxiway replacement project.

At PIT, a taxiway segment was relocated outside the AOA and perimeter fence and repurposed as a haul road and staging area for their terminal redevelopment program (Figure 40). During the construction planning process, it was determined that the taxiway was not critical for aircraft operations and could be temporarily closed. Using the thicker taxiway pavement helped reduce costs associated with constructing a haul road to support heavy construction traffic over a multiyear period.

Pavement Management

AC 150/5380-7B discusses the airport Pavement Management Program (PMP), a set of defined procedures for collecting, analyzing, maintaining, and reporting pavement data. The AC indicates that the FAA recommends the guidelines but acknowledges that they are “not mandatory except for projects funded with federal grant monies through the Airport Improvement Program

and with revenue from the Passenger Facility Charges Program.” The AC does not specify that PMPs should cover VSRs but indicates that ASTM D6433, Standard Practice for Roads and Parking Lots Pavement Condition Index Surveys, provides information on the determination of road and parking lot pavement conditions.

AC 150/5320-6G provides guidelines on the design and evaluation of pavements used by aircraft at civil airports. The only mention of testing of roads refers to ASTM D4695, Standard Guide for General Pavement Deflection Measurements, for testing airside access roads, perimeter roads, and other landside pavement. ACRP Synthesis 22: Common Airport Pavement Maintenance Practices, provides information on “how airports implement airport pavement maintenance systems, including inspection and tracking pavement condition, scheduling maintenance and rehabilitation, identifying necessary funds, and treating distresses in asphalt concrete and Portland cement concrete” (Hajek, Hall, and Hein 2011).

Several interviewees indicated that the non-apron segments of VSRs were incorporated either into their airfield pavement management systems or in a separate pavement system. One of the airports noted that their VSRs are segmented in their pavement management system to identify different areas of use, such as aircraft pavement and heavier traffic use. This tracking allows them to incorporate segments of the VSR into more significant airfield or apron rehabilitation projects, which may qualify for FAA funding. One of the interviewees indicated that their VSRs get as much attention as airfield pavement, and their PMP includes VSRs in their reoccurring airfield studies, including NAVAID and ARFF access roads. Other airports indicated that pavement condition studies on VSRs are completed on an ongoing basis.

Preventive Maintenance

The literature review did not reveal any industry information related to the preventive maintenance of VSR pavement. AC 150/5380-6C indicated that maintenance of airport access roads and other non-aeronautical pavements may typically follow state highway standards. Some pavement-related ACs reference the book Pavement Management for Airports, Roads, and Parking Lots. The book is a guide for the principles, methodologies, and best practices for maintaining the longevity of pavements in various transportation infrastructures (Shahin 2005).

Most interviewees reported that their maintenance staff continually seal pavement cracks and fill potholes as needed. ONT indicated that VSR markings are repainted annually and that VSRs are cleaned with a sweeper every two weeks. APA indicated that their perimeter VSR was constructed with recycled asphalt airfield millings and that their VSRs were being maintained by continually using millings as they were available.