The Airfield Pavement Committee

By Scott Murell, P.E., M.ASCE

Chair, Airfield Pavement Committee

The Airfield Pavement Committee (APC) has had a very active spring, the highlight of which was the 2006 T&DI Airfield and Highway Pavement Conference.  Held in Atlanta, Georgia this conference concentrated on the issues, concerns, and problems faced everyday by planners, designers, owners, researchers, and contractors.  The conference offered the attendees the choice of over 100 overall presentations in five technical tracks, three workshops, and two networking events.  It is the committee’s hope to use the lessons learned through this conference in the current planning for the 2008 conference in order to better meet the needs of the members and attendees.  The conference, though the largest, was not the only event that The Airfield Pavement Committee completed this spring. 

Some of our other activities included a webinar entitled Layered Elastic Flexible Pavement Design for Airfield Pavements using FAA-LED FAA V.I.3 which was presented on May 11, 2006 by Rodney Joel, PE of the FAA.  APC has also had a very busy spring involving standards.  Just recently Bernadette Caparas has taken charge of coordinating our review of the draft FAA Advisory Circulars related to airfield pavement.  Also at the beginning of May, Shiraz Tayabji chaired a meeting of the Task group that is investigating specialty certification in airfield pavements.  Progress is being made on the matter despite strong opinions both for and against such a certification.  Finally, the APC submitted two problem statements to the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) for funding consideration.  The first proposal is for establishing aircraft tire pressure limits for hot mix asphalt surfaced pavements.  The second problem is for airfield pavement roughness criteria and assessment methods.  I would also at this time like to thank Jeb Tingle who volunteered to serve as the Materials subcommittee chair, his help will be greatly appreciated.