Pavement Options for an Airport Parking Apron at an International Airport in Australia

Cairns International Airport’s domestic parking apron was originally designed for 300 and 400 series B737 and occasional larger aircraft. With the development of the terminal and increased passenger movements, the apron is expected to be subject to increased frequency of heavier B737-800 aircraft as well as regular operations by larger aircraft, including the A330, B747 and B787. The apron required upgrading to accommodate this increased pavement loading. To minimise disruption and cost, only the parking positions and access taxilanes were to be upgraded. An investigation into the most appropriate type of pavement for the proposed work concluded that a rigid concrete pavement was preferred. Other pavement options considered included traditional asphalt surfaced flexible pavement and segmental concrete block paver surfaced flexible pavement. Each pavement was considered against the following selection criteria which were determined in consultation with the Cairns Port Authority: • Construction cost. • Whole of life cost. • Constructability. • Construction time. • Reliability. Rigid concrete pavement was found to be superior to all other pavement types with regard to constructability in the confined areas proposed. It was also found to be satisfactory with regard to construction time. Whilst having the highest capital cost, rigid concrete pavement was considered to present the lowest whole of life cost based on its longer design life and reduced pavement maintenance requirements. Rigid concrete pavement was approved as the preferred pavement type for the upgrade work, which is now under construction