Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements in Airports: Structural–Economic Evaluation and Proposal for a Catalogue

Paola Di Mascio,Claudio De Marchis,Giovanni Metta,Antonello Germinario,Rosario Salzillo,Laura Moretti,Alberto De Rubeis

doi:10.3390/infrastructures6050073

Paola Di Mascio, Claudio De Marchis + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6050073

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Abstract

Although the design of jointed plain concrete pavements could be solved by commercial software, there is still a need for simple tools to be used in feasibility studies and preliminary cost–benefit analyses. This paper analyzed and verified jointed plain concrete pavements for airports composed of square slabs without tie and dowel bars. The examined slabs are laid on a cement-treated base layer and a stabilized granular subbase layer. The finite element software FAARFIELD was used to design the JPCP pavements when they are subjected to the design of the airplane (i.e., turboprop C-130J Hercules) under different conditions. Seven subgrade load bearing capacity values, twenty traffic levels, and two construction hypotheses (i.e., constant or variable thickness of the two deeper layers) were designed and then verified with the Westergaard theory in order to present a proposal for a catalogue. Finally, the construction cost per unit surface area was calculated for different construction methods of paving (by slip form paver or by fixed form). The obtained results provide a simple and fast procedure to design preliminary airport JPCPs.

Highlights

The first Italian airports were born in the first decades of the last century: they were built for military needs
Given the design traffic mix and the characteristics of the aircraft that will operate in the 20-year service life, it is possible for each i-th airplane to derive the number N of take-offs equivalent to the design of the aircraft (i.e., C-130J in this study), using Equation (4): q
Where TCEQi is the number of take-offs of the i-th airplane equivalent to those of the design airplane; TCi is the number of take-offs of the i-th airplane; M is the number of wheels on each leg of the main landing gear of the airplane design; Ni is the number of wheels on each leg of the main landing gear of the i-th airplane; W is the maximum weight on the single wheel on each leg of the main landing gear of the airplane design; Wi is the maximum weight on the single wheel on each leg of the main landing gear of the i-th airplane

Summary

Introduction

The first Italian airports were born in the first decades of the last century: they were built for military needs. Those infrastructures were just a large leveled circular area, lawned estate, where airplanes took off or landed in the most favorable wind direction. The increasing aircraft size and weight and the greater demand for resistance to chemical agents (e.g., fuels and anti-freezers) [1] determined the final transition from airfields to paved runways [2]. The Italian Air Force (IAF) designed the first paved runway in 1927 to bear the increasing movements of heavy aircraft. In 1938 were paved runways of IAF conceived for operational reasons, in order to guarantee flight operations during rainy periods. Most of the operative military Italian airports (15)

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