New Approach for Estimating Lengths of Transitional Ramps during Runway Overlay Construction

A new approach for estimating the lengths of transitional ramps to be constructed during runway rehabilitation work is presented. The lengths of the ramps are estimated as a function of the asphalt concrete overlay thickness and the longitudinal slopes of the runway exactly at the areas where the ramps should be constructed. This investigation was carried out during the rehabilitation work of the Runway 15/33 of "Jorge Chávez" International Airport, in Lima, Peru. The pilots' opinions, the ICAO — International Civil Aviation Organization standard, the Boeing approach for runway roughness evaluation as well as the author's "rms — root mean square" criterion, were the basis for the development of this approach. This paper presents curves for estimating the ramp lengths for runway longitudinal slopes of 0%, 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7%, 1%, 1.2% and 1.5% and overlay thickness up to 100 mm. The approach was specifically validated for a 60 mm overlay thickness, based on the systematic collection of pilots' opinion, after many takeoffs and landings.