More than 200 communities in Alaska are not connected to the road system and rely upon the local airport for transportation outside the community. This is true for most communities above the Arctic Circle where the airport provides the lifeblood of goods, transportation, and emergency medical services. Alaska’s rural airports must function year round and support air traffic ranging from the smaller Cessna 208 Caravans to the occasional large cargo plane. Temperatures in this region vary from a record high of greater than 26 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) to lower than minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit). Resurfacing these runways presents a unique set of challenges that includes permafrost soil conditions, a short (less than 100 day) construction season where the temperature rarely gets above 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit), gravel costs that can exceed $620 per ton, and lack of cross-wind runways. This paper discusses some of the most common challenges of resurfacing runways in the desert, wetland, and tundra landscape north of the Brooks Range Mountains, and solutions addressing those challenges. Techniques discussed include insulated embankment sections and culverts, aggregate blending, soil additives, and half-width construction.
Challenges with Resurfacing Runways above the Arctic Circle
International Airfield and Highway Pavements Conference 2019 ; 2019 ; Chicago, Illinois
Airfield and Highway Pavements 2019 ; 354-361
2019-07-18
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
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