Overnight Pavement Replacement Using Precast Panels and Conventional Subgrade Material, Washington Dulles International Airport Case Study

During a two-week period in October – November 2002, a rapid panel replacement of six panels of rigid airfield pavement was performed at Washington Dulles International Airport, Washington, DC (IAD). The work was performed during the night on active taxilanes and taxiways. The durations of the closures were 15.5, 9.5 and 8.5 hours on each of three replacement nights, showing a steep learning curve is involved. However the project demonstrated the process is viable for use in rapid pavement replacement projects using only nightly closures, enabling immediate reopening of the pavement to aircraft service loads. A special grading machine was used to create an accurate bearing surface in a compacted layer of granular subgrade material. The grading and precasting processes can produce planar surfaces or warped, fully three-dimensional surfaces. This project required warping. Panels were uniform in thickness but deviated from a true plane by as much as 40 mm (1–9/16 in.) vertically. Panels were placed within 6 mm (1/4 in.) on the vertical axis and had a 6 mm (1/4 in.) maximum placement deviation laterally. The new panels are expected to have a minimum service life of five years. Though the precast panels are likely to survive longer, surrounding original pavement is expected to continue to deteriorate, requiring replacement after five years. Although the project at IAD involved a total of six panels replaced two at a time, the technique can be applied to smaller scale projects or expanded over several months to replace hundreds or thousands of panels. With the technology's history on highways plus the success of the IAD project, the rapid panel replacement process shows promise for important new applications such as reconstruction of taxiways using only night closures, or replacement of a critical access Taxiway over a weekend.