Airport Paving

Mountain Empire Airport is a public-use airport located in Smyth County, Virginia. The 5252-foot long, 75-foot wide runway was in poor condition with extensive cracking and differential settlement along earlier construction joints where previous extensions and widenings had been performed. The rehabilitation project, advertised included profile milling the existing surface, three types of crack repairs, a new 2 ½-inch surface, lighting, markings, and regrading edges of the runway safety area. Before the start of work, W-L created a GPS model of the planned surface to compare with the existing surface elevations. The project utilized more than 13,000 tons of P-401, with 100 percent of tonnage meeting the PWL specification. Understanding the importance of the project and the risks associated with a PWL specification, W-L selected two of its senior paving foremen and crews to perform the paving operations.