Report on the Airport Pavement Maintenance and Rehabilitation Print
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 20:00

by Donald McPhail

On the 12th and 13th October 2009, the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) hosted a Seminar on Airport Pavement Maintenance and Rehabilitation (M&R) under the auspices of the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS) and with the facilitation of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The course presented during the seminar was developed by engineers at Applied Pavement Technology Inc. of the USA is usually presented for that organization several times. The course materials delivered are updated by the company on a regular basis in order to provide the most recent information on airfield pavement maintenance and rehabilitation. Additionally, the version of the course presented was revised specifically for presentation on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The main objective of the seminar was to provide the Region's maintenance personnel, safety managers and safety and regulatory inspector of airports with enhanced knowledge and skills in pavement maintenance and rehabilitation so as to enable them to better perform their duties and functions, thereby enhancing safety and ensuring proper maintenance at a airports in a cost effective manner.

In order to achieve the above, the course was designed so that participants would:

  • Understand pavement types and performance.
  • Relate different pavement distresses to appropriate maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) techniques.
  • Identify proper sequence, steps for typical techniques.
  • Troubleshoot poorly performing M&R repairs.

The topics covered included:

  1. The types of pavements.
  2. The two main types of pavement material
  3. Portland Cement Concrete.
  4. Hot Mix Asphalt.
  5. The characteristics and properties of the different pavements.
  6. Methods of achieving various pavement strengths.
  7. Methods of maintenance, rehabilitation and Repair.
  8. Recognition and Identification of distresses in Portland Cement Concrete and Hot Mix Asphalt.
  9. Selection of appropriate types of maintenance, rehabilitation and repairs and when to apply them.
  10. The use of additives in pavement preparation and constructions.
  11. Short and long term repair methods.
  12. Best Practices

Course delivery was achieved through a series of lectures and discussions as well as field trip to the V. C. Bird International Airport for practical demonstration purposes.

The seminar was attended by twenty-one (21) participants from Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.