ASPHALT TRIAL SECTIONS IN THE TOUCH DOWN ZONE ON JOHANNESBURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RUNWAY

The performance of four asphalt mix types were studied under operational conditions in the Touch Down Zone of a high volume runway on a major international airport, Johannesburg International Airport. The asphalt mixes were a medium and coarse continuously graded mix, an open graded mix and an SMA mix. The rubber build up of the surfacing types were monitored visually, as well as through surface texture and skid resistance measurements. The durability of the mixes were observed to ensure that the integrity of the surfacing was maintained. The study showed that the SMA mix gave the best performance in terms of all the criteria. The continuously graded mixes had good durability but did not perform as well in terms of skid resistance. The open graded mix developed integrity problems due to aggregate loss. For the covering abstract see ITRD E121480.