SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 1982
RUNWAY RESURFACED AND GROOVED
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HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, WHICH HANDLES MORE THAN 56 000 INCOMING AND OUTGOING PLANES A YEAR, HAS ACHIEVED A NEW STANDARD IN THE FRICTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ITS NEWLY PAVED AND GROOVED RUNWAY.
THIS WAS PROVED BY NUMEROUS TESTS CARRIED OUT ON THE RUNWAY OVER THE PAST THREE MONTHS, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE CIVIL AVIATION DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY (SUNDAY).
+GOOD RUNWAY SURFACE FRICTION CONTRIBUTES CONSIDERABLY TOWARDS AIRCRAFT SAFETY WHILE POOR SURFACE FRICTION COULD MAKE WET RUNWAYS SLIPPERY AND COULD, AT ITS WORST, RENDER THE BRAKING SYSTEM OF AN AIRCRAFT INEFFECTIVE, THE SPOKESMAN SAID,
THE $55-MILLION PROJECT INVOLVED REPAVING 3 230 METRES OF THE RUNWAY WITH TWO ASPHALTIC CONCRETE LAYERS, RAISING ITS SURFACE LEVEL BY 100 MM. ABOUT 65 000 MINUTE GROOVES, EACH MEASURING A MERE 8 MM IN WIDTH, WERE THEN CUT INTO THE OVERLAY TO GIVE THE RUNWAY BETTER SURFACE FRICTION, THE SPOKESMAN EXPLAINED.
THE PROJECT USED UP 42 500 TONNES OF ASPHALTIC CONCRETE AND THE GROOVES, IF PLACED END TO END, WOULD STRETCH 3 000 KILOMETRES.
AS PART OF THE PROJECT, 110 NEW LIGHTS WERE INSTALLED ON THE RUNWAY TO GUIDE PILOTS ÎN LANDING THEIR AIRCRAFT ALONG THE CENTRELINE AT NIGHT OR WHEN VISIBILITY IS POOR.
AS A RESULT OF THE REPAVING OF THE SURFACE LEVEL, MORE THAN 200 INSET LIGHTS AND 300 COVERS FOR DRAINAGE CHANNELS ON THE RUNWAY HAD ALSO TO BE RAISED.
THE ENTIRE PROJECT WAS COMPLETED WITHIN SEVEN MONTHS - FROM LAST OCTOBER TO APRIL THIS YEAR - SO THAT THE REPAVED RUNWAY COULD BE READY BEFORE THE APPROACH OF THE RAINY SEASON.
THIS TIGHT SCHEDULE WAS MET EVEN THOUGH FOR ENGINEERING REASONS, TWO MONTHS HAD TO BE ALLOWED FOR THE FRESHLY LAID ASPHALTIC CONCRETE TO SETTLE BEFORE THE GROOVES COULD BE CUT INTO IT.
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