16.11 2021
Intensive operation of airfields can eventually lead to dangerous subsidence of the pavement. Raising and stabilizing the concrete slabs of the airfield using traditional methods threatens to put the facility out of service for weeks or months. Restoration of the coating using GeoResin technologies will take a few days or even hours.
The subsidence of airfield concrete slabs can be caused by various reasons. Among them – the increase in the load on the airport and the non-compliance of the project with modern requirements, damage to the drainage system of the airfield, natural wear and tear of the object, and so on. Most often, worn, cracked or slightly bent concrete slabs of taxiways and runways within the permissible values may not pose a direct threat and may not create emergency situations. However, problems may arise, for example, with a sudden change in weather conditions. For example, an excessive amount of precipitation with a sharp drop in temperature can lead to the formation of a dangerous layer of ice on the surface of the airport’s surface.
The situation can be corrected by operative intervention in the condition of the soil under the concrete slabs of the airfield flight field. In order to carry out a traditional operation to strengthen the soil, lift and stabilize the position of airfield concrete slabs, it is often necessary to carry out a complete dismantling of the slabs on the territory of the subsided area with subsequent restoration of the cover.
At the same time, it is not necessary to dismantle the coating to perform similar operations to strengthen the soil and level the position of the concrete slabs of the airfield using GeoResin technologies. It is enough to drill several holes with a diameter of 16 mm in the concrete or in the joints between the slabs and feed the multi-component geopolymer material to the required depth.
The unique property of GeoResin geopolymer resins is that they expand and gain high strength just 15 minutes after injection. Immediately after the works, the restored section can be operated in the mode of permissible loads: the stabilized section of the airfield can withstand the full weight of the airliner.
Thus, in order to fully restore the operational condition of the airfield surface, it is often not necessary to close the facility for a long time, but also to change the flight schedule. Necessary works can be performed taking into account traffic, at night, when the natural load on the airport is low. An important advantage of GeoResin geopolymer injection technologies is the complete autonomy of the equipment: the equipment and materials necessary for work are compactly placed in a mobile complex, which will not create restrictions for the movement of aircraft on the rest of the airfield.
Two technologies of geopolymer injection are usually used to repair the airfield cover. Deep lifting technology is used to strengthen the soil at a depth of several meters. To directly level the position of concrete slabs, the Floor Lifting method is used with injections under the slabs themselves. At the same time, it is easy to adjust the position of concrete slabs in real time during injection with geopolymer resins. For this, special ultra-precise laser levels are used, capable of recording movement within ± 1 mm.
