Abstract
A rigid aircraft pavement apron at Whyalla Airport (Australia) required a strength evaluation for proposed larger aircraft operations. The existing pavement was completely undocumented. Intrusive core holes were performed to confirm slab thickness and to recover sub-base and subgrade materials for laboratory testing, as well as concrete compression strength testing. In addition, non-destructive ground-penetrating radar and falling weight deflectometer surveys assisted with slab thickness, joint load transfer, and the presence of edge slab thickening and load transfer devices. In combination with a visual condition assessment, the results were analysed and representative pavement structures were evaluated in the software FAARFIELD. It was concluded that the small differences in the three potential pavement structures considered had a profound effect on the theoretical pavement life. Despite the pavement being deemed inadequate for the larger aircraft, the methods used provided a good example for practitioners in similar situations with undocumented rigid airport pavements.