Airports are the transport links that keep Australia soaring above the competition. When road, rail or sea transport is too timely or expensive, Australians take to the sky to get themselves and their cargo to the right destination, fast.
According to the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities, there were 63.5 million passengers carried on domestic flights in the year ending June 2019. Total cargo movements at Australian airports on 472.6 thousand tonnes. As these numbers continues to steadily grow, stress is added airport infrastructure, and more weight is placed on airport runways, resulting in slab repairs and replacement.
This is where Bluey Technologies plays its part in keeping Australians on time. Our experience with BluCem FSC – Fast Set Concrete, has given us the insight required to successfully deliver time-critical runway projects, time and time again. As the current airplane curfew for most Australian international airports is from 11pm to 6am, runway slabs must be returned to service and be capable of supporting planes of all sizes within a 7-hour window.
Outlined below is the typical timeline for a slab replacement on runways which must be adhered to by our application partners when carrying out critical airport works.
11.00PM – Slab removal and subgrade inspection
11.15-11.30PM – Starter bars drilled and installed and subgrade work carried out.
11.45-12.15 – BluCem FSC Placement
The BluCem FSC manufacturing process allows for continuous weigh volumetric mixers to place BluCem FSC from 2 trucks at the same time. (shown right) Multiple trucks are often required due to the strict time constraints of the job to ensure that BluCem FSC reaches the optimum flexural strength within 2-3 hours of mixing.
12:15-12.30AM – Screeding and finishing
In a bid to increase speed and efficiency, specialised screeding and finishing equipment is required such as a triple tube roller.
12:30-1.00AM – Testing and curing
BluCem FSC BluCem FSC uses the latest technology on maturity testing to monitor and measure the strengths accurately and insitu.
2:30-3.30AM – BluCem FSC has reached the specified flexural strength to be allowed to be returned to service with hours to spare.
Over the past two decades, Bluey has been trusted by Australia’s largest international airports to provide products and technical knowledge for critical runway pavements. In showing our support of the industry, we’ve partnered with the Australian Airports Association as the Knowledge Lab Partner for the upcoming 2019 National Conference.
For more information about BluCem FSC or to learn other project examples where it’s been used, visit www.bluey.com.au/projects or call 1300 0 BLUEY.