Final Environmental Assessment (EA) Addressing the Repair of Runway 05/23 at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington

Abstract : The Proposed Action consists of two distinct actions: the first action includes repairing Runway 05/23 and replacing airfield lighting systems; and the second action includes the temporary relocation of aircraft, personnel, and equipment during Runway 05/23 closure. Under the Proposed Action, Fairchild AFB proposes to repair Runway 05/23 (Runway 05-the western end, and Runway 23-the eastern end) so that it is in compliance with Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) 3-260-01 Airfield Planning and Design Criteria and UFC 3-260-02, Pavement Design for Airfields. Fairchild AFB's runway conditions have declined markedly in recent years. Most of the airfield pavements are in adequate condition; however, portions of the runway are declining to critical levels. Portions of existing airfield pavements are cracking, spalling, and scaling due to age and portions of the airfield pavement joint seals are damaged. Corner breaks and linear cracks are beginning to appear at the main departure end of Runway 23. Throughout the length of the runway, nearly every slab on the keel section has one or more patches, with nearly all of the patches on the transverse and centerline joints. In addition some pavements contain alkali-silica distress reaction (ASR) caused by the type of aggregate used during initial construction in 1956. ASR causes the formation of a gel around bad aggregate that leads to pavement cracking from the inside-out. The airfield pavements at Fairchild AFB have reached the end of their useful life and must be replaced in order to avoid having operations cause foreign object damage to aircraft. As part of the Proposed Action, Fairchild AFB also would replace airfield lighting systems so that they are in compliance with UFC 3-535-01, Visual Air Navigation Facilities.