Tensar helps extend airport taxiway life

Tensar helps extend airport taxiway life and reduce maintenance at Woensdrecht military airport in the Netherlands.

Increased pilot training programmes at Woensdrecht military airport in the Netherlands meant that the northern taxiway, which was in poor condition, needed reconstruction to carry the extra traffic.

Rather than completely re-construct the taxiway, whose sub-base was still in good condition, it was decided to overlay it with 110 mm of asphalt.

Tensar Glasstex P50 and Tensar AR asphalt reinforcement were used to control reflective cracking caused by thermal movement and traffic loading respectively.

Over a sub-base of good quality granular material, the taxiway base consisted partly of 200mm thick concrete slabs and partly of flexible pavement.

The flexible pavement was composed of c 120mm of asphalt surfacing over a foundation of 250mm of furnace slag.

Longitudinal and transverse cracks in the asphalt had been caused by reflection of shrinkage cracks in the foundation, with a random pattern of additional fatigue cracks resulting from wear in the asphalt layer.

This could cause further reflective cracking in any overlaid asphalt layer.

Additionally, joints between the concrete slabs could also cause reflective cracking in any overlaid asphalt due to thermal movement.

For the concrete slabs, Tensar Glasstex P50 provided the optimum reinforcement, while Tensar AR was more suited to control the cracking above the flexible pavement sections from trafficking.

After filling the cracks and joints, the Tensar reinforcements were efficiently installed and the asphalt was applied using traditional paving machines.

Client: Defensie, afd DGW and T te Breda.

Specifier: Defensie, afd DGW and T te Breda.

Contractor: BAM Wegen b.v.

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