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Airfield and Highway Pavements: Meeting Today’s Challenges with Emerging Technologies

Gary Mitchell, P.E., M.ASCE

Chair 2006 Airfield and Highway Pavements Confernece

The Transportation & Development Institute of ASCE held the 2006 Airfield and Highway Pavement Specialty Conference April 30 – May 3, 2006. The conference was held in Atlanta, GA near the Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport and had 262 attendees. The conference was supported by the T&DI Airfield Pavement and Highway Pavement Committees.

Other committees who contributed to the conference include the T&DI Construction Committee, the Bituminous Material Committee of the Construction Institute of ASCE, and the Geo-Institute of ASCE Pavement Committee. The objective of the conference was to transfer knowledge about emerging technologies and their implementation to address critical elements in the pavement life-cycle.

Over 200 abstracts were received and reviewed by at least two experts. One hundred thirty-five abstracts were invited to submit papers. Of the 134 papers received, only 87 were accepted for publication after a rigorous review. The fully refereed papers were published in the conference proceedings.

In addition to the technical session, the conference also featured workshops for both seasoned and novice participants. Topics ranged from “back-to-basics” in concrete and asphalt pavements to an overview of the new Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also presented a day-long training session on the new FAA Aircraft Pavement Design Software for airport pavement thickness design that is planned to be released, potentially sometime next year. Approximately 70 individuals attended each of these workshops.

The highlight of the conference was a technical tour of the new fifth runway at the Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which was commissioned in late May 2006. The 9000 ft. concrete runway was constructed to relieve air traffic congestion at the world’s busiest airport. The tour demonstrated how the project team used innovation to meet the challenge of constructing the runway across Interstate Highway I-285.


President Eva Lerner-Lam M.ASCE The Palisades Group, Inc. elernerlam@ palisadesgroup.com Vice President Louis F. Cohn Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE University of Louisville cohn@louisville.edu Treasurer Kam K. Movassaghi Ph., D., P.E., M. ASCE C.H. Fenstermaker and Associates kmovassaghi@cox.net Past-President Robert D. Stevens Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE ARCADIS rstevens@ arcadis-us.com Larry Mugler, AICP M.ASCE Denver Regional Council of Governments lmugler@drcog.org Marsha Anderson- Bomar A.M. ASCE Street Smarts marsha@streetsmarts.us C. Michael Walton Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE University of Texas at Austin cmwalton@mail. utexas.edu Secretary Jonathan C. Esslinger P.E., F.ASCE Transportation & Development Institute jesslinger@asce.org	Airfield and Highway Pavements: Meeting Today’s Challenges with Emerging Technologies By Gary Mitchell, P.E., M.ASCE Chair 2006 Airfield and Highway Pavements Confernece The Transportation & Development Institute of ASCE held the 2006 Airfield and Highway Pavement Specialty Conference April 30 – May 3, 2006. The conference was held in Atlanta, GA near the Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport and had 262 attendees. The conference was supported by the T&DI Airfield Pavement and Highway Pavement Committees. Other committees who contributed to the conference include the T&DI Construction Committee, the Bituminous Material Committee of the Construction Institute of ASCE, and the Geo-Institute of ASCE Pavement Committee. The objective of the conference was to transfer knowledge about emerging technologies and their implementation to address critical elements in the pavement life-cycle. Over 200 abstracts were received and reviewed by at least two experts. One hundred thirty-five abstracts were invited to submit papers. Of the 134 papers received, only 87 were accepted for publication after a rigorous review. The fully refereed papers were published in the conference proceedings. In addition to the technical session, the conference also featured workshops for both seasoned and novice participants. Topics ranged from “back-to-basics” in concrete and asphalt pavements to an overview of the new Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also presented a day-long training session on the new FAA Aircraft Pavement Design Software for airport pavement thickness design that is planned to be released, potentially sometime next year. Approximately 70 individuals attended each of these workshops. The highlight of the conference was a technical tour of the new fifth runway at the Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which was commissioned in late May 2006. The 9000 ft. concrete runway was constructed to relieve air traffic congestion at the world’s busiest airport. The tour demonstrated how the project team used innovation to meet the challenge of constructing the runway across Interstate Highway I-285.