Airfield Pavement Structural Evaluations, Current Practice and Future Needs

by George Walrond, Headquarters Air Force Civil, Engineering Support Agency, Tyndall, United States,
Don Christiansen, Headquarters Air Force Civil, Engineering Support Agency, Tyndall, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Airport Pavement Innovations?Theory to Practice

Abstract:

The United States Air Force's pavement evaluation teams have to be able to go quickly anywhere in the world to evaluate an airfield pavement's structural capability. A combination of non-destructive and modified destructive testing are used to evaluate parking aprons, taxiways, and runways. The Falling Weight Deflectometers (FWD) is used to collect nondestructive data. The electronic cone penetrometer or the dynamic cone penetrometer is used to estimate soil layer thickness and strength values under a pavement feature. Pavement core samples are evaluated for strength and the core holes allow the use of a cone penetrometer to analyze the base and subgrade. Soil samples can also be taken from the core holes. Field data are reduced and analyzed to determine Allowable Gross Loads (AGL's) for the pavement and Pavement Classification Numbers (PCN's). The AGL's and PCN's can be used to predict pavement life and to determine if the pavement can support a given operational load.

Subject Headings: Airport and airfield pavements | Penetration tests | Pavement deflection | Load tests | Soil strength | Pavements | Nondestructive tests | United States

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