Concrete repairs on airside runways at Hamilton airport turned into a multi-phase project.
Phase 1 - 2017
An extensive inspection was done, covering thousands of square feet, to measure and plot every crack and catch basin. The resulting scope of work included concrete crack repair, patching, and storm drain repairs.
Issues
Lose Concrete Lose concrete around cracks and potholes can cause damage to airplane engines: if even a small piece were to get into one, it would involve an extremely expensive repair (up to 2 million dollars per engine!).
Crack repair and patching had to be done to prevent such costly potential damage from occurring.
Unlevel Storm Drain Slab Since the storm drain pads became raised by close to two inches, due to freeze-thaw cycles that affect the two slabs of concrete involved, water could no longer drain properly and began ponding on the airside. When the water accumulated and froze, it caused further concrete damage.
Solutions
Crack Repair A three-step repair process was followed, including crack routing with a saw, treatment with a specialized adhesive to insure immediate and durable repair, followed by cement filling.
Patching Under traditional repair methods, patching requires a minimum of two-inch demolition in the affected area. The use of our unique products, Polyforce Plus Adhesive, and Polyforce Polymer Cement, permits thin patch applications, without use of any forming or concrete injection, making the job much more cost-efficient and faster. The combination of Polyforce Plus Adhesive and Polymer Cement creates a monolithic patch which is able to restore structural integrity of the repaired slab.
Patching also involves three steps: removal of delaminated and unsound concrete, application of adhesive, and patch installation.
Storm Drain Repair Storm drain pad had to be regraded towards the catch basin to ensure proper drainage. This was possible thanks to our thin patch applications (as thin as one inch, in this case), and made it unnecessary to rebuild the entire catch basin. Since the resulting repair was highly successful, we were invited to go back during the following years to repair all of the catch basins.
Phase 2 – 2018-2019
The remaining five catch basins were repaired. Further crack repair (cracks as long as 30 feet) and patching were done, to rehabilitate airside runway concrete surfaces.
Phase 3 – 2020-2021
The last phase of concrete repairs has been delayed due to COVID-19.
Work at Toronto Pearson International Airport
Because of the level of satisfaction with our work, we were recommended to one of the tenants of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) and invited to bid on a project to be carried out there. Read our next blog to find out about the repairs done there.