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Case Study

	The New Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok Island (HKIA) is said to be one of the largest public works projects in history. Constructing HKIA was such a massive project because the island/airport had to be built literally from the ground up. Even though every effort was made to minimize settlement, HKIA engineers knew that through the course of time and use, settlement would occur. The objective was to minimize differential settlement and to track the pavement’s profile as the pavement settled...

In August, 2001, we worked with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA) engineers to find a suitable repair design on Runway 1-19 at the intersection with Runway 6-24.

In June 2001, we completed a standard smoothness assessment of Runway 1-19. This was after an asphalt overlay in June 2000. The objectives of the study were to determine the initial smoothness after the overlay, and establish a baseline profile for comparison with future measurements in accordance with the PA’s pavement management efforts.

The results of the study showed that the area surrounding the intersection with Runway 6-24 contained some moderate roughness. Takeoff and Landing simulations showed that this area could produce mild to significant aircraft response. We recommended that the area be repaired using a design that lessened aircraft response while maintaining other non-smoothness considerations.

The PA then asked us to work with their engineers to produce a suitable design. Using our REPAIR utility in APRas, we suggested several ways to reduce aircraft response in this area. The PA project engineer incorporated some of these suggestions while maintaining other non-smoothness related considerations in the final design. The intersection area was repaired using the PA design. We then measured the profile again to see where the profile differed from the original, and how well the repairs compared the PA design. Overall, the aircraft response was effectively reduced and the runway was found to be acceptable from a smoothness point of view.