Pavement Maintenance Guidelines for General Aviation Airport Management (2016)

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1 C H A P T E R 1 This guidebook is intended to help airport management at general aviation (GA) airports determine the most efficient and effective maintenance options to optimize pavement life. What’s in This Guidebook This guidebook discusses or provides: • Where to start when managing airfield pavement; • Pavement maintenance principles and guidance; • How to identify pavement distress types and their severities; • A users’ guide for the online Airport Pavement Maintenance Recommendation Tool; • How to use the field guide; • Details of the benefit/cost data found in the tool; and • Lists, descriptions, and pictures of asphalt and concrete distress types. This guidebook is intended as a starting point and should be supplemented with its companion documents: • Airport Pavement Maintenance Recommendation Tool: A user-friendly web tool for deter- mining the most appropriate pavement treatment and its cost (see Figure 1). The online tool can be found at http://acrp-pavement-tool.tti.tamu.edu. • Field Guide: A paper equivalent of the online tool with treatment tables based on the airport’s classification and climate zone (see Figure 2). Where to Start: Determine Your Airport’s Classification and Climate Zone Knowing your airport’s classification and climate zone will help you choose the most appro- priate pavement treatments. The color scheme of Table 1 matches the color scheme of treatment tables found in the field guide. General Aviation Airport Classifications In 2010, the FAA assigned GA airports to the following subcategories: national, regional, local, and basic (FAA 2012). The categories focus on the role of the airport in communities and the nation, and not necessarily on airport size and features. Table 2 shows a description of each category. Introduction to Airfield Pavement Management

2 Pavement Maintenance Guidelines for General Aviation Airport Management Figure 1. Online tool homepage. FIELD GUIDE for the Airport Pavement Maintenance Recommendation Tool for ACRP Report 159 Sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM Figure 2. ACRP Report 159 Field Guide cover. Classification Types Climate Zone Types National Wet Freeze Regional Wet No freeze Local Dry Freeze Basic Dry No freeze Table 1. Classifications and climate zones.

Introduction to Airfield Pavement Management 3 Climatic Zone Climate affects different pavement stresses, needs, and potential maintenance treatments. Fig- ure 3 shows the climatic zones that were developed as part of the Long-Term Pavement Perfor- mance (LTPP) research. Although developed by the FHWA for roadways, it has direct applicability for airport pavements since weather similarly affects airport pavements and roadway pavements in terms of pavement condition and performance. The Life of a Typical Pavement Figure 4 shows an example pavement condition life-cycle curve. The pavement condition creeps along the satisfactory and fair range for several years before entering into the poor range and quickly dropping through the very poor and into the serious rating. Pavement Management Principles An airport pavement management program maintains operational and safe pavement assets in the most cost-effective manner while minimizing the long-term pavement costs. Most GA airports currently choose a treatment to address current needs (i.e., applying a fix after a problem has significantly developed). In many cases, the airport sponsor will rotate through a few familiar treatments without considering which treatment is actually the best long- term approach (FAA 2014). Pavement management best practices are: • Use preventative maintenance, • Use a formal airport pavement management program, and • Conduct routine pavement inspections. Criteria Used to Define the New National Category (all numbers are annualized) 5,000+ instrument operations, 11+ based jets, 20+ international flights, or 500+ interstate departures; or 10,000+ enplanements and at least one charter enplanement by a large certified air carrier; or 500+ million pounds of landed cargo weight. Criteria Used to Define the New Regional Category (all numbers are annualized) Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) (metro or micro) and 10+ domestic flights over 500 miles, 1,000+ instrument operations, 1+ based jet, or 100+ based aircraft; or the airport is located in a metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area, and the airport meets the definition of commercial service. Criteria Used to Define the New Local Category (all numbers are annualized) 10+ instrument operations and 15+ based aircraft; or 2,500+ passenger enplanements. Criteria Used to Define the New Basic Category (all numbers are annualized) 10+ based aircraft; or 4+ based helicopters; or the airport is located 30+ miles from the nearest National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) airport; or the airport is identified and used by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Marshals, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (designated, international, or landing rights), or U.S. Postal Service (air stops), or has essential air service; or the airport is a new or replacement facility activated after January 1, 2001, and is publicly owned or privately owned and designated as a reliever with a minimum of 90 based aircraft. Source: (FAA 2012). Table 2. New FAA category definitions of general aviation airports.

4 Pavement Maintenance Guidelines for General Aviation Airport Management Source: (Shahin 2005). Figure 4. Typical pavement condition life cycle. Source: (FHWA 2014). Figure 3. LTPP climatic zones.

Introduction to Airfield Pavement Management 5 Use Preventative Maintenance Preventative maintenance should be done during the good to fair range in Figure 4, delaying the significant drop in condition. A rehabilitation treatment should be done before the drop from fair to poor/serious to avoid costly rehabilitation/reconstruction work. Too often, GA managers spend scarce resources at the bottom of the curve in Figure 4 rather than making incremental investments for preservation at the top. Use a Formal Pavement Management Program Every airport should have a formal airport pavement management program (PMP). This is required for airports receiving grant funding through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). A PMP is a recommended framework that can be adapted to a specific airport to take the guesswork out of when and what type of treatment to apply. The PMP “provides a consistent, objective, and systematic procedure for establishing facility policies, setting priorities and schedules, allocating resources, and budgeting for pavement maintenance and rehabilitation” (FAA 2014). This process not only allows for establishing the current conditions of the airport’s pavement but also the ability to predict the pavement’s future condition using pavement condition indica- tors. The ability to project future deterioration rates allows for better planning and the ability to optimally schedule maintenance activities to avoid higher-cost treatments in the future. A PMP recommends a treatment by clearly illustrating a monetary benefit for investing in preventative maintenance, which assists the airport sponsor in lobbying for maintenance funding (Hajek et al. 2011). Conduct Routine Pavement Inspections While a detailed pavement inspection is required annually for federally obligated airports, more regular, routine pavement inspections are also recommended. These can be done daily, weekly, and even monthly to provide for consistent pavement condition inventories over time. The following is adapted from the guidance in performing pavement inspections provided to Texas airport managers in Pavement Management Program for General Aviation Airports (Texas Department of Transportation 2000). Routine pavement inspections should be performed at least once per month. Dividing the pavement into discrete pavement sections can help in managing the inspection effort and main- taining good records. Each section—a runway, taxiway, or apron area—should be observed while recording the pavement’s conditions and any distresses. Performing the inspections includes the following activities: • Walk or slowly drive the pavement section being inspected; • Look for any pavement irregularities, damage, or deficiencies; • Record the following information: – Date; – Pavement section being inspected; – Location of pavement damage, deficiency, or irregularity; and – Extent of the damage, deficiency, or irregularity; and • Note any corrective action taken or that needs to be taken. Pavement inspections should take place either early or late in the day when the sun is low or just after a rain because at these times, shadows and moisture help to highlight and identify any deformities and deficiencies on the pavement surface.

6 Pavement Maintenance Guidelines for General Aviation Airport Management Airport Pavement Program Benefits The use of a PMP can yield many benefits to the airport sponsor. FAA Advisory Circular 150/5380-7B, Airport Pavement Management Program (PMP), outlines these benefits (FAA 2014), which include: • Increased pavement life, • Objective and consistent evaluation of pavement condition, • A systematic and documented engineering basis for determining pavement needs, • Identification of budget/financial resources needed to maintain pavements, • Documentation of current and future pavement conditions, • Life-cycle cost analysis for different maintenance alternatives, and • Identification of the impact of doing nothing on the airport and pavement. Airport Pavement Management Program Components FAA Advisory Circular 150/5380-7B also outlines the essential components of an airport PMP (FAA 2014). The FAA guidance outlined in the advisory circular is mandatory for any airport with projects funded with grant money provided through the AIP. While the airport can use any format it determines to be appropriate, the PMP should address and include, at a minimum, the following components: • Pavement inventory, • Pavement inspection schedule, • Record keeping, and • Information retrieval. Pavement Inventory FAA guidance is that the pavement inventory for each airport should include the following: • Identification of all runways, taxiways, and aprons; • Dimensions of pavement sections; • Type of pavement surface; • Year of construction/major rehabilitation; and • Whether AIP funds were used to construct, reconstruct, or repair the pavement (FAA 2014). These inventory records allow airports to know what pavement needs to be managed and how the pavement changes over time. Pavement Inspection Schedule The FAA also requires its federally obligated airports to perform a detailed inspection at least once per year. It is also recommended that less comprehensive inspections of the airport’s pave- ments be performed on a routine basis, including daily, weekly, and monthly. Record Keeping Keeping good records is integral to the pavement management program. Airports must record and keep on file detailed information on all airport inspections and any maintenance performed on the pavement. The necessary records, at a minimum, must include: • Inspection date, • Location,

Introduction to Airfield Pavement Management 7 • Distress types found, and • Any maintenance performed or scheduled (FAA 2014). Information Retrieval The FAA does not dictate how the PMP is carried out—only the elements that are required. However, it is necessary for the airport sponsor to be able to retrieve the records when needed. Specialized software is available to assist in developing and maintaining an airport’s PMP. This type of software is also capable of generating specific types of reports that can assist an airport in the planning, scheduling, and budgeting of its pavement maintenance activities. Essentially, the software allows airports to perform the recommended treatment at the optimal time, allowing for the most cost-effective approach. In addition, the FAA recommends that the PMP include the available and anticipated funding and other resources available to provide for the pavement maintenance at your airport (FAA 2014). This helps provide a clearer picture of when pavement maintenance activities can occur. Additional information and resources are included in FAA Advisory Circular 150/5380-7B, Airport Pavement Management Program (PMP) (FAA 2014). This includes information on specific software packages used by airports in managing their pavement maintenance.