Runway Weight Bearing Capacity

Speed

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Speed
This is probably a stupid question but I'm getting confused...

When you see something like this on Airnav:
Single wheel: 19.0
Double wheel: 30.0

Or this in the AFD:
S-19, D-30

Is this per wheel set, or for the aircraft? I thought it was an aircraft limit - i.e. Double wheel max weight is 30,000 lbs. I called the airport manager at the airport in question (DLL) and he said it is per axle, so the limit is 90,000 lbs. Is this correct?
 
Numbers are for 'gross weight capacity'. So your total aircraft weight. This is not intended to be a limitation. The AFD suggests contacting airfield management, however I don't mess around with landing at an airport that can't support me.

I deal with this all the time flying my 17,000 lb helicopter in to small class E airports.
 
Numbers are for 'gross weight capacity'. So your total aircraft weight. This is not intended to be a limitation. The AFD suggests contacting airfield management, however I don't mess around with landing at an airport that can't support me.

I deal with this all the time flying my 17,000 lb helicopter in to small class E airports.

Thanks that confirms my suspicions. If I was slightly over I wouldn't be too concerned, but we'd be in there around 60-70k lbs so I think I'll have to find an alternate airport.
 
Thanks that confirms my suspicions. If I was slightly over I wouldn't be too concerned, but we'd be in there around 60-70k lbs so I think I'll have to find an alternate airport.


Don't be too concerned.
GWBush already set a precedent --- putting down AF1 onto kLRU with resulting very large ruts being gouged into the road (which he also did not pay to repair)
 
President Bush did the flight planning and landed the plane? And then he didn't write a personal check for the repaving?
 
President Bush did the flight planning and landed the plane? And then he didn't write a personal check for the repaving?

Add it to the list of things that are Bush's fault!


JKG
 
I wouldn't worry about it. That C-17 landed at TPF last year with an S 20 rating and she held up fine. That stuff has a good safety buffer for these mistakes. :)
 
Damage to the pavement depends on how much you exceed the limit and how often. It is like the left lane on the interstate from the high amount of 18 wheeler traffic that may exceed the original design limit of the pavement.

A gross overload may result in immediate severe damage. Repeated slighter overloads will result in development of ruts over time.
 
I'd think the temperature would make a big difference in the weight bearing capacity, for asphalt anyway.
 
I'd think the temperature would make a big difference in the weight bearing capacity, for asphalt anyway.

Don't forget about asphalt thickness and density. Only one good way to measure density. Anyone know?
 
Damage to the pavement depends on how much you exceed the limit and how often. It is like the left lane on the interstate from the high amount of 18 wheeler traffic that may exceed the original design limit of the pavement.

A gross overload may result in immediate severe damage. Repeated slighter overloads will result in development of ruts over time.

I think you mean the Right lane...:dunno:
 
I'd think the temperature would make a big difference in the weight bearing capacity, for asphalt anyway.

Short answer, no. The asphalt will be compacted at installation basically.

Don't forget about asphalt thickness and density. Only one good way to measure density. Anyone know?

more importantly the base and sub base - Measured with a Dynamic Cone Penetration test. Probably 50% of pavement failures are due to faulty base and sub base, the other 50% consists mostly of poor installation and sometimes faulty pavement mixes ( which sometimes even is engineer specs :yikes: )

Don't have time to get into it, its a two week course in the Air Force called Airfield Pavement Evaluation that deals with all of these questions.

edit - the one poster had it right also, not only max gross weights but number of uses is extremely important.
 
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Short answer, no. The asphalt will be compacted at installation basically.



more importantly the base and sub base - Measured with a Dynamic Cone Penetration test. Probably 50% of pavement failures are due to faulty base and sub base, the other 50% consists mostly of poor installation and sometimes faulty pavement mixes ( which sometimes even is engineer specs :yikes: )

Don't have time to get into it, its a two week course in the Air Force called Airfield Pavement Evaluation that deals with all of these questions.

edit - the one poster had it right also, not only max gross weights but number of uses is extremely important.

Didn't one of the POTUS's land their supprt planes in Az NM ? a few years back and totally destroy the runway ??:dunno:
 
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Dd,'t one of the POTUS's land their supprt planes in Az NM ? a few years back and totally destroy the runway ??:dunno:

and ?

im not sure where you are coming from :dunno:

someone asked about hot asphalt, which is compacted at installation. if you got something sinking in asphalt simply because its hot, then you got some serious asphalt issues.

then someone made a statement about importance of asphalt and concrete thickness. the real strength comes from the base and sub base. in other words you can have a 3" asphalt over top a 6" concrete over a well aggregated and properly compacted base material be capable of supporting more weight and passes then a 6" asphalt over a 12" concrete on top of a crappy base and sub base.

so, again not sure where you were coming from ? just thought people might find it interesting, though the AF class is from the back end of the deal you still get some insight to the engineering aspects.
 
Don't forget about asphalt thickness and density. Only one good way to measure density. Anyone know?

When you are using FAA money, the FAA specifies the asphalt mix. The contractor has to take core samples to monitor the installed condition of the asphalt and an independent lab takes random core samples to verify his results. The compacted density of the base and sub base is verified before the asphalt is put down.
 
When you are using FAA money, the FAA specifies the asphalt mix. The contractor has to take core samples to monitor the installed condition of the asphalt and an independent lab takes random core samples to verify his results. The compacted density of the base and sub base is verified before the asphalt is put down.

Ya know..... Maybe I am a bit leary but..... For years and years when a company paved or repaved a road, the quality was good to great... it held up well and the surface was SMOOTH....:yes:..

In the last decade or so, most if not all repaves are actually worse then the road was before the work.... Yeah, I see the guvmint workers out there, leaning on their shovels, wasting tax payer dollars and supposably monitoring the work of the contractor.. I see them taking core samples and checking various other details of the road construction job and still the quality of the job is medium to poor in most cases..

In this day and age, you would figure the quality of road work would be state of the art with GPS guided graders, lasers for surveying work and other high tech options available. And still the quality in my mind has slipped to third world nation standards.. All I can assume is the whole deal is a smoke screen to milk the taxpayers , and /or someone is getting damn rich with the bribes and kickbacks associated with road paving /repaving jobs... IMHO..

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed this..:dunno::dunno::confused:
 
I've never seen a government worker on an FAA AIP job. When it comes to QC, our engineer is reviewing the contractor's results and is hiring the independent lab that does their own spot checks.
 
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