C&S Receives Award of Excellence for Sebewaing Township Airport Runway Rehabilitation
C&S received the Asphalt Paving Awards Program Award of Excellence for airport projects for the rehabilitation of Runway 18-36 at Sebewaing Township Airport in Sebewaing, Michigan. This project received high scores for overall appearance, ride, and edge construction.
The awards program is a cooperative effort between the Asphalt Pavement Association of Michigan (APAM) and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). The awards program recognizes excellence in asphalt pavement construction.
Runway 18-36 was in extremely poor condition and had numerous pavement distresses that posed a safety hazard. There were many transverse and longitudinal cracks 2 to 3 inches wide, with secondary cracking and depressed pavement. There was severe alligator cracking along much of the west side of the runway. In some areas the pavement was broken into small pieces and the pavement surface was missing, exposing the granular base. This was a major safety concern due to the pieces of asphalt and granular base that were loose on the runway.
As part of the schematic design, C&S explored alternative pavement rehabilitation methods, including full reconstruction and pulverization. The alternatives were evaluated to work within the available funding for the project. The ultimate method of rehabilitation included in the project was full reconstruction of the runway with six inches of aggregate and three inches of asphalt pavement. Provisions were included in the contract to deal with weak soils when they were encountered during construction.
The reconstruction also included surface drainage improvements and the installation of underdrains along each edge of pavement. The installation of underdrains and new pavement surface profile greatly improved the drainage around the runway, which has been a problem in the past due to the airport’s proximity to Saginaw Bay and high water levels.