Recommendations for the Minimum Thickness of Concrete Pavements Supporting F-15 and C-17 Aircrafts

The procedure for the design of military rigid airfield pavements contained in the Unified Facilities Criteria 3-260-02 gives the minimum thickness of airfield concrete pavements as 152 mm (6 in.). The introduction of the C-17 aircraft and the requirement of dowel bars as a joint load transfer mechanism bring into question the validity of the 152-mm (6-in.) minimum thickness. With the objective of updating such minimum thickness criteria, a full-scale test section was constructed and trafficked with loads simulating F-15, B-52, and C-17 aircraft landing gear. Evaluation of the test section performance and analysis of the strain data supported a U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center team recommendations that the minimum pavement thickness be increased to 203 mm (8 in.) for any doweled airfield pavement and that the minimum thickness of 279 mm (11 in.) should be required for those pavements supporting C-17 aircraft.