Laboratory and Field Study on Performance of Airport Asphalt Pavements with Embedded Snow-Melting Equipment

One important aspect of securing the reliability of aircraft operation at airports is preventing disruption due to snow. The embedding of snow-melting equipment in airport asphalt pavements is considered an effective way of avoiding disruption. Two types of snow-melting equipment are examined in this study: the warm-water heating pipe system and the electric heating wire system. A series of laboratory tests and full-scale experiments are conducted to clarify the effectiveness of the equipment at melting snow on the pavement surface and its durability under repeated aircraft loading. In the laboratory tests, specimens of asphalt mixtures were prepared with snow-melting equipment embedded. Then the heating unit temperature necessary to raise the pavement surface temperature to 1°C was measured under various ambient temperature conditions. In addition, a wheel-tracking load with a contact pressure equivalent to that of a B747 aircraft was repeatedly applied. In the field study, experimental asphalt pavements were constructed with the 2 types of snowmelting equipment at various depths. A loading assembly with a wheel configuration identical to that of a B747 aircraft was applied repeatedly up to 10,000 times to evaluate the influence of snow-melting equipment on pavement surface characteristics and to ensure the durability of the snow-melting equipment under repeated loading. It is concluded from these studies that snow-melting equipment can be successfully installed in airport asphalt pavements.

• Corporate Authors:

  Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas (CEDEX)

  Alfonso XII, 3
  Madrid,   Spain  28014
• Authors:
  • Hachiya, Yoshitaka
  • Tsubokawa, Yukitomo
  • Mizukami, Junichi
  • Maekawa, Ryota
  • Su, Kai
• Conference:
  • APT '08. Third International Conference
  • Location: Madrid , Spain
  • Date: 2008-10-1 to 2008-10-3
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 13p
• Monograph Title: Third International Conference on Accelerated Pavement Testing. APT 2008. Impacts and Benefits from APT Programs

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airport runways; Asphalt pavements; Snow and ice control; Snow removal
• Uncontrolled Terms: Aircraft loads; Embedded snowmelting equipment
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Pavements; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01135965
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 28 2009 7:25AM