Contractor James D. Morrissey recycled some 45 percent of the existing taxiway, minimizing the hauling of fresh aggregate and reducing the carbon footprint of the project.
(James D. Morrissey Construction photo)
Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE) lies 24 mi. from its big brother, Philadelphia International Airport, south of the city. Passengers and cargo travel out of Philadelphia International, while PNE, a general aviation airport, serves clients for flight instruction and airline maintenance. PNE also houses clients that include the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Leonardo Helicopters, a firm that builds helicopters for military, rescue and civilian use.
Like its larger brother, PNE has to maintain its facilities, runways and taxiways for aircraft. Starting in April, contracting company James D. Morrissey has been working to deliver a full-depth replacement for Taxiway L. This will be the third project Morrissey has provided for the airport since 2019. PNE has nearly 200 aircraft based at its airport.
Airport leadership supervise the work and operation of both airports. The leadership noted that Taxiway L at PNE had begun exhibiting serious problems including cracking and shoving in the asphalt surface. Cracking is not the result of failed pavement in the top layers. Likewise shoving, (when the surface takes on a washboard look) results from activity deep within the pavement structure.
Engineers determined that Taxiway L could not be fixed by milling a few inches off the top, then filling it with new asphalt. This fix would require full-depth replacement of the one-third-mile long strip of asphalt.
"We determined that the best approach would be to remove a portion of the existing asphalt and pulverize the remaining six to eight inches of underlying aggregate subbase," said Lee Sutanto, assistant engineer at the airport.
Recycling
The engineering team and the contractor determined several advantages to this approach. Sutanto summarized: "By recycling some 45 percent of the existing taxiway, we would minimize the hauling of fresh aggregate, reduce our carbon footprint, decrease construction costs and save at least two months of time."
The team determined that this recycling plan would help them get the most bang for the buck from a $3 million grant to the airport from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The construction team determined that they would be able to rebuild the runway for at least a 20-year life, in keeping with FAA standards.
Christopher Shapcott, site superintendent of Morrissey, led the work at PNE.
"We started in April and will have the job complete by the end of the season," he said. "We used our large-head milling machine to pulverize everything, reaching six inches below the subgrade. The machine ground up the entire pavement and recompacted it all in a single operation."
Workers for Morrissey then paved on top of the pulverized material, using approximately 6,500 tons of asphalt. Workers placed all the material in just four days.
The new taxiway will have a 12-in. cement-treated subgrade, topped with 6-in. of P-401 asphalt, as specified by the FAA. This type of asphalt will bear the weight of aircraft plus channel any rainwater for safe takeoffs and landings.
Morrissey used its standard equipment for the project, including a material transfer vehicle, dozers and pavers equipped with GPS for accurate operations.
The finished taxiway will be 1,800 ft. in length and 90 ft. wide, with wider shoulders than the old taxiway. The shoulders were paved with P-403 asphalt again according to FAA standards. The construction team also built new drainage structures to conform to the new taxiway profile. In addition, the team replaced the lighting with LED lights. The new lighting will last longer than the old lights, resulting in additional savings to the airport.
"We worked with an experienced team of workers and airport team leaders," said Shapcott. "The project was smooth sailing, helped by what we had learned on the projects done in 2017 and 2019. Also, we had no supply chain issues. This is the fifth project that we performed since 2019. Three packages of Runway 6-24, one project that consists of general airport maintenance and partial Taxiway Charlie rebuild, and this year's project, and Package 1 of Taxiway Lima reconstruction."
The previous project was a rehabilitation of Runway 6-24. Taken together, the work on Runway 6-24 and the current full-depth replacement of Taxiway L cost approximately $50 million. Sutanto also feels satisfied as the project closes in on the finish line.
"We didn't want to wait until the taxiway became unusable. Regular, proactive maintenance like this preserves the level of service and efficiency at the airport. I was also pleased to use recycling, which saved about $500,000 for the project." CEG
Chuck MacDonald
Chuck MacDonald is an editor, blogger and freelance feature writer whose writing adventures have taken him to 48 states and 10 countries. He has been the editor for magazines on pavement construction, chemicals, insurance and missions. Chuck enjoys bicycling, kayaking and reading. He graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism. Chuck lives in Annapolis, Md. with his wife Kristen. They have seven grandchildren.
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