What are the factors to be considered for the design of pavement?

Factors Affecting Pavement Design

  • Wheel load.
  • Axle configuration.
  • Contact pressure.
  • Vehicle speed.
  • Repetition of loads.
  • Subgrade type.
  • Temperature.
  • Precipitation.

Why are airport runways concrete?

These runways are of major importance and they can also be quite costly for airports. These are high-quality concrete and asphalt surfaces that need to withstand heavyweight. These surfaces, after all, have to handle and withstand thousands of takeoffs and landings a year.

How thick is the asphalt on a runway?

Asphaltic concrete is classified as semi-rigid, and can be as much as six feet thick. Asphalt is classified as flexible pavement, and is laid over a bed of crushed stone (agregate) and is generally in excess of four feet thick…at airline airports.

What are the design factors to be considered for determining the thickness of airport pavements?

Flexural strength of the concrete (modulus of rupture, MR)

  • Strength of the subgrade, or subgrade and subbase combination (k)
  • The weights, frequencies, and types of truck axle loads that the pavement will carry.
  • What are the requirements of an ideal pavement?

    An ideal pavement should meet the following requirements:

    • Sufficient thickness to distribute the wheel load stresses to a safe value on the sub-grade soil,
    • Structurally strong to withstand all types of stresses imposed upon it,
    • Adequate coefficient of friction to prevent skidding of vehicles,

    How are airport runways constructed?

    Concrete runways fall into the rigid pavement category. People build them by putting portland cement slabs on a granular subgrade or a prepared sub-base made of fine material. An airplane’s load is sent through them to the materials underneath when the slabs bend slightly.

    How thick is airport runway?

    Typical narrow body runways usually have 11 to 13 inches (28 to 33 centimeters) of concrete thickness, and runways that serve wide body aircraft usually have 17 to 20 inches (43 to 51 centimeters) of concrete thickness. This type of construction qualifies a runway to be referred to as “hard surfaced” or “paved”.

    How thick is a concrete runway?