BATT Lab solves the problem of a badly cracked airport runway without blowing the budget

In 2022, Palmer Engineering called the BATT Team in to help in assessing the general aviation airport in Madisonville, KY. The 15-year-old runway needed a solution to address a condition of high cracking and raveling. The extreme level of cracking threatened to generate flying object debris (FOD), a situation where aggregates from the runway break away and create a danger and damage to the airplanes.

Working in tandem with Palmer Engineering, Phil Blankenship proposed installing an aramid-reinforced interlayer as part of the solution. The BATT Team originally created the interlayer for another general aviation runway that proved easy to install and successfully mitigated reflective cracking issues and water intrusion that undermined the runway’s surface integrity. However, one major factor made this solution unsuitable for the Madisonville runway — a low paving budget with the need to first address drainage issues.

Core samples showed the surface layer was intact, but the base had degraded to a gravel-like condition. Instead of an interlayer, BATT and the Palmer team recommended a cost-effective solution where a chip seal with CRS-2P emulsion would serve as a waterproofing barrier and a “poor-mans’” interlayer to seal the cracks and to hold the existing pavement in place. A two-inch overlay of 3/8” nominal maximum aggregate size (NMAS) using PG 76-22 polymerized asphalt reinforced with aramid fiber provided the resilient strength needed to absorb the daily pounding of aircraft landings and take-offs while resisting cracking.

The unique features of this project included:

·       CRS-2P chip seal to seal the pavement and isolate cracking from the underlaying pavement

·       Improved surface to further reduce cracking

·       Quick construction time in a tight, late-fall paving window

·       Paving in echelon to reduce the number of cold joints

·       Cutting back the longitudinal cold joint to improve joint density

The runway construction was completed during October through early November by Scotty’s Contracting with no problems and with the cooperation of warm weather in the late fall. BATT was on-site to inspect the placement of the control strips of the CRS-2P chip seal layer and PG 76-22 surface. The Kentucky Department of Aviation was pleased with the results and with a solution that ensures the safety of the runway at a cost that didn’t break the budget. This project will be monitored annually.