Abstract
The construction and maintenance costs, as well as the residual value, were calculatedfor structurally equivalent rigid and flexible airfield pavements for a range of typicalcommercial aircraft and a range for typical subgrade conditions. Whole of life cyclecost analysis was performed for a range of analysis periods, from 40 years to 100 years.For the standard 40-year analysis period and a residual value based on rigid pavementreconstruction, the rigid pavements had a 40-105% higher whole of life cost thanequivalent flexible pavements. However, longer analysis periods had a significantimpact on the relative whole of life cost, although the rigid pavements always had ahigher cost than the flexible pavements. The assumed condition of the rigid pavementat the end of the design life was the most influential factor, with a 60-year service liferesulting in the rigid pavements having a lower whole of life cost than the flexiblepavements, but assuming a requirement for full expedient reconstruction resulted in therigid pavements costing approximately 4-6 times the flexible pavements over the 40-year analysis period.