RUNWAY REPAIRS
14 airportbusiness April 2017
By Jeff Winke
Partial Runway
RECONSTRUCTION
Milling the
old asphalt
runway
structure
becomes key.
I
t was almost as though the $225 million runway
that the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
(DTW) had added in 2001 was jinxed from the get-
go. Expected to last 30 years, Runway 4L/22R had
issues arise a mere three years later when cracks
and flaws in the concrete required maintenance to
restore the smooth landing surface. In fact, other concrete paved
surfaces constructed in that time frame in Michigan and beyond had similar problems, as
the Detroit Free Press reported.
The problem was identified as alkali-sili-
ca reaction, or ASR. ASR causes concrete to
expand and crack when exposed to moisture
over time.
Explanations on how ASR forms include the
new cement manufacturing standards because
of new environmental standards, highly reac-
tive sand and the widespread use of winter
deicers on runways and roads.
The Federal Highway Administration