Over-night Renewals of the Concrete Runway at Sabiha Gökcen International Airport Istanbul

Abstract

Over the last couple of years, new rapid-hardening concretes were developed. They do not only stand out by their high early strength, in excess of 20 MPa already 90 minutes after setting, but are also adjustable to the needs of the construction site in regards to fresh concrete properties and setting behavior. This allows the rapid-hardening concrete to be placed using traditional means and the construction program to be optimized in order to perform the renewals during very short closure windows. After many years of usage, the single runway at Sabiha Gökcen International Airport Istanbul was in need of large-scale renewals due to severe damages in the high wear areas around the centerline. But, with it being the only runway at the airport, closing it for multiple weeks to perform the renewal was not an option. The nightly closure of only 5 hours, due to late-evening and early-morning flights, placed additional demands on the rapid-hardening concrete, the logistics of the construction site and the concrete's long-term durability for a permanent solution. This article presents the step-by-step over-night renewals at Sabiha Gökcen Airport, which is the largest project ever performed involving rapid-hardening concrete. Each night up to 5 slabs (94 m2) of the runway were replaced for a total area of 8700 m2 over 117 nights between March and September 2018. Such large area applications without affecting regular airport operations are possible thanks to the latest generation of rapid-hardening cement and this article shows these possibilities to project owners, design engineers, and contractors.