Challenges with Construction of Portland Cement Concrete Pavement at Calgary International Airport

In preparation for construction of a parallel runway at the Calgary International Airport in the spring of 2011, concrete pavement had to be constructed to realign Gates A1–A10. Concrete mixes were developed for central batch production for both paver and hand placement methods. In addition, winter conditions required concrete delivery from a local concrete ready-mix supplier. The construction schedule required the paved sections to be open to aircraft traffic three weeks after pavement construction. A maturity method was developed to estimate early age compressive/flexural strength of the concrete pavement. This paper presents the process utilized in developing the concrete mix design to meet the project requirements for Cement Stabilized Base (CSB) and the Portland cement concrete mix, the development of the plant mix, and the construction methodology. Additional challenges with pavement construction in winter conditions are highlighted, including CSB and concrete placement, curing conditions, control joint construction, and instrumentation for maturity of concrete determination. The verification process for final acceptance of the product is described, including durability testing and pavement design review. This project demonstrated that concrete pavement can be constructed under accelerated schedule and during adverse weather conditions with the quality of the pavement not compromised and the construction schedule successfully managed.