Reading time:
2 minGlasGrid GG100 Centralia Airport
Application
The Ontario Development Corporation operates Centralia Airport at the site of a former Royal Canadian Air Force training base. The base was converted to civilian aviation use in 1966. In 1992 the Ontario Development Corporation, which had recently acquired the airport, decided to undertake a rehabilitation effort to bring the facility up to current standards.
The Challenge
A combination of irregular maintenance and harsh weather was causing serious cracking of the airport’s paved surfaces.
Site Conditions
The airport apron was becoming extremely oxidized and brittle due to the harsh climate. Centralia’s highest recorded monthly average temperature was 27 °C in July while the lowest was -10 °C in January. The surface layer included thermal, alligator, transverse and longitudinal cracks. Further surface degradation was likely to affect aircraft movement and safety.
Alternative Solution
The owners could have considered adding a thicker overlay to the apron, however this approach would have proved very expensive. Experience also suggested that an overlay without reinforcement would provide only a temporary solution since thermal stresses were likely to cause the cracks to eventually reflect back through to the surface.
ADFORS GlasGrid Solution
The ADFORS GlasGrid® Pavement Reinforcement System was recommended as a lower cost, longer lasting alternative to installing a thicker overlay.
Reinforcing the apron with self-adhesive ADFORS GlasGrid GG100 would produce a strong interlayer solution capable of resisting the migration of reflective cracking. Used quantity:
- 6.100 m2 on runway
- 54.000 m2 on apron
Site Inspection in 2005
A return site visit in July 2005 revealed that the ADFORS GlasGrid geogrid reinforced pavement had experienced only minor cracking after 12 years of post-rehabilitation service.
Site Inspection in 2012
Result of the second inspection in May 2012 showed the surface is still in good condition with minimum cracks after nearby 20 years in use.
Last Inspection in 2018
August 2018, 25 years after repair, it is still looking pretty good considering the hard Canadian weather condition and original existing surface. In some very hard traffic areas, we checked cracks, but imagine the comparison between 1993 and 2018 without ADFORS GlasGrid reinforcement.
