Main runway surfacing repairs, Edinburgh Airport

We successfully completed the runway repairs over winter, ensuring the runway was reopened at 4.30am each morning.

The project scope

The Main Runway Surfacing Repairs scheme involved the surface repair of the main runway at Edinburgh airport during the winter months. Work was completed on night shift at weekends under a short runway closure window after the last flight to 04.30am and involved the replacement of small, medium, and large asphalt sections of the runway. This included hand laying the first 87 patches over the first 3 shifts and then machine laying the rest of the sections over the remaining weekends. Our scope of work included:

• Planning, preparation, and paperwork in advance of the project.

• Planing out the patches as per the schedule of works.

• Precision saw cutting the patch joints and breaking out the cut areas using excavators.

• Sweeping and pressure washing repair areas to ensure no dirt was present on the vertical faces of the joints.

• Drying the patches and joints using a hot compressed air lance.

• Painting the vertical face of the joints with bitumen.

• Spray application of tack coat to the repair area.

• Laying of 10mm SMA airport spec asphalt surface course to 50mm, 60mm and 100mm depth.

• Compaction using 10Te and 120 rollers.

• Drying of joints and final sealing using ‘over banding’ joint sealant.

• Resources included 27 vehicles/plant and 22 staff on each shift.

Challenges & successes

The work was deemed to be urgent due to the deterioration of the runway surface and the need to maintain high standards of runway safety. The work, therefore, had to be completed on nightshift weekends throughout the inclement winter weather period. The working window for each shift was short (midnight to 4.30am) during which all our planned work had to be completed and the runway fully swept before being handed back to the airport operations department on time each morning prior to the first flights of the day. During some of the shifts we were laying up to 34 patches in a 4-hour working window.

Once we had planed out the surface, we had to guarantee that resurfacing work would be completed to allow the runway to reopen on time. To ensure this deadline was met and to mitigate risks of project delays and plant breakdowns, we deployed standby operatives, surfacing plant and had standby asphalt suppliers on call.

The project required extensive security clearances for our staff and material suppliers and security checks were regularly carried out on our staff, equipment, and material deliveries. Additionally, after each shift briefing, we were required to wait in a holding area until the last flight landed, after which we were escorted to the runway.