Performance of Plain Concrete Runway Pavement

Abstract

This paper investigates the causes of poor performance of plain cement concrete pavement, the most common type of construction for airfield pavements. Plain concrete pavements are generally cost-effective and durable. The runway at Zia International Airport at Dhaka (Bangladesh) is a plain concrete pavement, which failed rather prematurely. Thin longitudinal cracks occurred in the slab panels even before the runway was opened to traffic. With the operation of air traffic, cracks in the pavement became wider, fragmenting the slab panels into several pieces. This paper is aimed at identifying the causes of poor performance of the plain cement concrete runway pavement at Zia International Airport. A critical review of the various available documents supported by experimental and numerical investigations is presented to unearth the real causes of failure. It is shown that improper spacing of the longitudinal and transverse joints and existence of high temperature stresses resulted in cracking of the slab even prior to application of any air traffic loading. This was aggravated with the application of aircraft loadings heavier than those anticipated in the design of the runway.