Non-Destructive Structural Asset Valuation of a Saskatchewan Rural Airfield Before and After Structural Upgrade.

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure is responsible for maintaining several northern Saskatchewan airfields. The Meadow Lake Airfield provides year round air service as well as a fire fighting support base to northern communities. In 2006, several areas of the Meadow Lake Airfield received structural rehabilitation treatments. The objectives of the structural asset management survey were to evaluate the potential use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) to quantify in situ structural composition, to evaluate the use of integrated GPR and heavy weight deflection (HWD) measurements and derive conventional Transport Canada Pavement Load Ratings (PLR), to quantify a priori structural asset management values of the airfield pavement sections, and to allocate and distribute funds into necessary rehabilitation and preservation treatments. An additional objective was to explicitly quantify the structural value added from the rehabilitation and preservation treatments performed in 2006. Based on the structural asset management survey using non-destructive GPR and HWD measurements, it was found that the structural rehabilitation treatments improved the surface quality and the structural response of the Meadow Lake Airfield and reduced subsequent variability. In summary, the structural asset management GPR and HWD measurement approach to surveying airfield pavement before and after various rehabilitation treatments demonstrates a reliable and repeatable means to measure structural improvements without damaging the airfield asset with conventional PLR test methods.