The Asphalt Airfield Video Series showcases content from the Asphalt Paving Handbook to help practitioners designing, producing, and constructing airfields for the FAA.
Common QA/QC Lab Tests
Ensuring airport pavements meet the highest standards is critical, and quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) lab tests play a key role. This video explores common ASTM lab tests like ASTM D2041, D2726, D6307, D2172, and D5444, which measure asphalt density, binder content, and aggregate gradation. It also discuss the tools used in these tests, including Marshall hammers and gyratory compactors, and how control charts help contractors monitor material quality during construction.
Echelon Paving
Echelon paving reduces longitudinal joints, which are prone to early deterioration, by using two or more paving trains working side by side. This method ensures a seamless bond between mats, resulting in uniform density and better long-term performance. This video covers the benefits, challenges, and key techniques for echelon paving.
Loadout from the Plant to the Truck
Learn how to properly load haul vehicles to avoid mixture segregation, ensuring consistent physical and thermal properties of the mix. This video covers essential steps, including truck bed inspection, release agent application, and proper loading techniques to maintain material quality during transport.
Reporting, Ticketing and Tracking
Accurate documentation is crucial for construction projects. This video highlights the three key reports—plant reports, field reports, and daily diaries—needed to ensure quality and track progress. Learn how to record essential details like asphalt mix temperature, compaction data, weather conditions, and more. We also explore the role of e-ticketing for real-time asphalt delivery tracking and how these records help optimize project performance.
Communication on Airfield Projects
This video explores how strong communication and thorough planning among contractors, airport staff, the FAA, and airlines make complex airfield paving projects possible. Learn the importance of pre-construction and pre-paving meetings, safety planning, and nightly briefings that keep operations running smoothly—even amid changing weather and flight schedules.
Coring
Pavement cores are essential for verifying asphalt thickness, density, and overall construction quality. This video outlines the step-by-step process for collecting and testing cores, from determining sample frequency and selecting random locations to using diamond bit coring equipment and proper extraction techniques.
Segregation at the Asphalt Plant
Aggregate segregation can weaken asphalt pavement by reducing density and increasing air voids and permeability. Learn how to identify the causes of segregation, from the plant to the paving site, and discover best practices.
Control Strips for FAA Jobs
A control strip is a critical first step in asphalt paving that ensures materials, equipment, and construction practices will meet project specifications. This video explains how control strips validate mix quality, placement methods, and rolling patterns before full production begins.
Longitudinal Joint Construction
Longitudinal joints are critical to pavement durability, especially on airfields where heavy aircraft loads and high speeds demand top performance. This video outlines the importance of proper joint construction, the differences between hot and cold joints, and step-by-step best practices for achieving strong, smooth seams.
Screed Controls
Whether you're paving a runway or a roadway, understanding grade control systems is crucial for high-quality results. This video explains the importance of grade control and how different systems—from manual adjustments to advanced laser and GPS setups—affect pavement elevation, thickness, and smoothness. Learn how tools like joint matchers, skis, stringlines, and cross-slope controls work, and why a well-prepared base layer is key to avoiding issues like ponding or roughness.
Materials in a Job Mix Formula
Asphalt is a carefully engineered mix designed for strength, flexibility, and long-term performance. This video breaks down the essential components of an asphalt mix design, including aggregate, binder, air voids, and additives. Learn how each ingredient impacts pavement durability, rutting resistance, and cracking, and why fine-tuning these elements through a Job Mix Formula is critical for FAA-compliant airfield pavements.
Balanced Mix Design for Airfield Mixtures
Balanced Mix Design (BMD) is a performance-based approach to asphalt mixture design that goes beyond traditional volumetric methods. This video explores how BMD uses lab tests—like rutting and cracking resistance—to create mixtures tailored to real-world traffic, climate, and pavement conditions.
Production at a Drum Mix Plant
Take a behind-the-scenes tour of a drum mix asphalt plant and discover how raw materials are transformed into high-quality pavement. This video walks through each step of the production process—from cold feed bins and moisture measurement to aggregate mixing and binder incorporation inside the rotating drum.
Yield Calculations
Accurate yield calculations are essential for successful asphalt paving projects. In this video, experts walk through the key steps to estimate how much asphalt is needed, from calculating area and volume to using mix density and converting to tons.
Smoothness Requirements on Airfields
Proper smoothness testing ensures safe, smooth, and compliant asphalt pavement that stands up to demanding performance standards. This video demonstrates the process of measuring pavement smoothness during and after compaction, with a practical “how-to” explanation using various tool.
Factors Affecting Compaction
The main factors that affect pavement compaction are mix properties, temperature, rollers, weather, and base condition. Learn why timing and proper equipment matter, and how to adjust for changing conditions to meet density specifications and ensure lasting performance.
Prime and Tack Coat
Prime and tack coats play a critical role in asphalt paving by improving bonding and protecting underlying layers. This video explains when and how to apply prime coats to seal and stabilize aggregate bases and tack coats to ensure strong adhesion between asphalt lifts. Learn about proper surface preparation, spray bar setup, nozzle angles, application rates, and the importance of uniform coverage.
Paver Operations
Proper paver operation is essential for smooth, durable asphalt pavement. This video explains how the paver’s tractor and screed work together, and highlights best practices for managing mix flow, screed balance, angle of attack, and paver speed.
Smoothness Interpretation
Smooth asphalt pavements are essential for safety, performance, and longevity. This video explains how survey grades, profilographs, inertial profilers, and straightedges help detect irregularities, ensure proper drainage, and maintain FAA compliance.
Sampling Procedures
Asphalt sampling is essential for quality control and specification compliance during paving projects. This video explains how and when to collect representative samples and provides best practices for handling, labeling, and preserving sample integrity.
Segregation at the Job Site
Aggregate segregation can weaken asphalt pavement by reducing density and increasing air voids and permeability. Learn how to identify the causes of segregation, from the plant to the paving site, and discover best practices.
Safety on Asphalt Projects
Safety is everyone’s responsibility on an airfield paving project. This video emphasizes the importance of building a strong safety culture through daily safety talks, proper training, and clear communication. Hear from project leaders about real-world safety challenges and how they were addressed.
Types of Rollers
Choosing the right roller is key to compacting asphalt into strong, long-lasting pavement. This video covers the types of rollers—static, vibratory, oscillatory, and pneumatic—and how each works. Learn about settings like weight, speed, amplitude, and tire pressure, and how to adjust them for different mixes and conditions. With the right roller and techniques, contractors can achieve smooth, dense mats that meet project specs.
Roller Operations
Following consistent patterns and working within the ideal temperature range helps ensure smooth, durable pavement that meets project specs. This video covers key roller compaction practices for asphalt paving. Learn about the three rolling phases—breakdown, intermediate, and finish—and how roller type, speed, pass count, and timing affect mat density.
Loadout from Truck to MTV and Paver
Keeping the paver hopper full and avoiding stops ensures high-quality pavement. This video covers best practices for unloading trucks, using windrows, and operating material transfer vehicles (MTVs) to reduce segregation and maintain continuous paving.
Complete Lot Report
This video explains what goes into an asphalt paving lot report, including daily tests for air voids, mat and joint density, smoothness, and grade. Learn how core samples are taken, how Percent Within Limits is calculated, and what happens if results fall short.
Transverse Joint Construction
Transverse joints form when paving stops mid-lane. This video explains how to properly construct and resume work at these joints to ensure smooth transitions and meet airfield specs. Learn best practices for joint trimming, tack application, screed setup, and compaction.
Percent Within Limits
Percent Within Limits (PWL) is a statistical method used by the Federal Aviation Administration to assess pavement quality. This video explains how PWL accounts for both the average and consistency of test results—like density and air voids—to determine how much of the pavement meets specifications. Learn how to calculate PWL using sample data, standard deviation, and quality indices, and see how it affects contractor payments and project acceptance.