PRESSURE HEAVING OF ASPHALT PAVEMENT OVERLAY (WITH DISCUSSION)

During the summer of 1982, approximately a year after construction of a 3.8-cm hot-mix asphalt concrete overlay on a runway at the Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, South Carolina, blistering of the overlay began to occur. The blisters, which occur only during the hot summer months, have appeared every summer since 1982. The amount of blistering appears to have increased with each subsequent summer. When present, the blisters were prevalent in certain paving lanes of the east-west runway, but were absent on the north-south runway. The blisters ranged in diameter from a few centimeters to greater than a meter. Through a thermographic survey in August 1984, it was estimated that more than 11,000 areas of the overlay were disbonded and thus were potential areas for blistering. The presence of the blisters on the runway presents a safety hazard to aircraft operations. The objectives of this investigation were to identify the primary cause of the blistering of the overlay and determine a feasible repair alternative that would negate the formation of blisters in the future. It was determined that the blistering is due to expansion of gases (air and water vapor) that are trapped at the overlay substrate interface. Blistering of the overlay occurs where bonding of the overlay to the substrate is deficient. Currently, blisters are more prevalent where the pavement reinforcing fabric interlayer was installed.

• Corporate Authors:

  Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (AAPT)

  400 Selby Avenue, Suite I
  St Paul, MN  United States  55102
• Authors:
  • Hironaka, M C
  • Holland, T J
• Conference:
  • Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists Proc
• Publication Date: 1987

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 380-408
• Serial:
  • Volume: 56

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aircraft operations; Airport runways; Blistering; Bonding; Crash causes; Deficiencies; Fabrics; Hazards; Hot mix asphalt; Interfaces; Overlays (Pavements); Repairing; Safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Interlayers; Repairs
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Construction; Design; Highways; Materials; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors; Terminals and Facilities; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces; I31: Bituminous Binders and Materials; I52: Construction of Pavements and Surfacings;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00739803
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 28 1997 12:00AM