2007 Issue

www.utahengineerscouncil.org 32 SOCIETY FORUM SOCIETY OF AMERICAN MILITARY ENGINEERS www.same.org President/UEC Alternate Representative Harry Beresmaster Vice President Brett Cozier Secretary Aliceson Dusang Treasurer David Friz UEC Representative Mike Norrie, MWH Americas, Inc. 801-617-3284 Newsletter Editor Eric Holm Meeting Chair Dean Armstrong Everett Reynolds Russell Thompson Misison Critical Repairs to HAFB Runway 14/32 T HE AIR FORCE CENTER FOR ENVIRON- MENTAL EXCELLENCE (AFCEE), HILL AIRFORCEBASECIVILENGINEERSAND ITS PRIME CONTRACTOR INNOVATIVE Technical Solutions, Inc. (ITSI) partnering together recently completed a $10 million runway repair project located on the instal- lation. There are approximately 80,000 aircraft operations within Hill AFB’s airport traffic area each year – the most at a single runway operation in the Air Force. Hill AFB is home to the 388th and 419th fighter wings along with essential missions dedicated to test aircraft F-16s, A-10s, F-22s and C-130s following repairs. Based on the deteriorating conditions of the concrete and asphalt surfaces of this 13,500-foot runway, resulting in foreign object damage (FOD) to aircraft this proj- ect was deemed un-avoidable. In 2004, Hill AFB’s 75th Civil Engineer Group initiated a plan to mitigate FOD through the selective replacement of concrete touchdown panels and complete replacement by asphalt paving along the entire length of the runway. The 775th Civil Engineer Squadron, in concert with the 75 Operations Support Squadron and AFCEE, launched the construction phase of the repair program in the Spring of 2005. The ambitious construction plan called for temporary relocation of the fighter wings and support personnel to other facili- ties, including Salt Lake International Air- port, during a 40-day runway closure window slated for August 2005. Through AFCEE, ITSI was selected as the construction con- tractor, with Carter Burgess as the on-site support contractor, and CH2M Hill as the Title II contractor - obviously a huge team effort between government and industry to successfully accomplish this effort. The project was divided into three phases for completion in 2005; the first two phases involved selective replacement of concrete touchdown panels during con- tinued flight operations, while the third phase involved asphalt replacement during a complete runway closure The first phase included concrete replacement of selective panels located within the North Touchdown area. ITSI along with subcontractors re- moved and replaced eighty one (81) concrete panels. Each panel consisted of 69 square yards and or 29 cubic yards of concrete. The replacement included cutting and sealing of the new joints, transverse grooving and fin- ishing. Approximately 2,490 cubic yards of concrete was placed during this phase. ITSI completed this phase on schedule within 53 calendar days that included a full 28-day cure on the newly placed concrete. The second phase included total removal of 65 selective concrete panels and installa- tion of an additional 160 panels to extend the concrete runway touchdown area by 500 lf. Also included was complete transverse grooving of the new and existing concrete areas (30,000 sy). An approximate total of 6,900 cubic yards of concrete was imported and placed during this phase. With Summer daytime temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, concrete crews began placement operations at 1:00 am throughout this phase. Beginning on July 29th, 2005 the runway was closed to aircraft and the removal and replacement of the asphalt (phase 3) began. continued on following page