Michael Army Airfield Phase 2 and 3
Features & Highlights
- Phase 2: 64,000-cubic-yards of self-performed PCCP work for a new 11,000-foot runway
- Phase 3: produced and placed 20,400-cubic-yards of PCCP in 18 days, finished 7 months early
- Maintained operations and performed multiple jobsite evacuations for emergency landings
- Remote area required on-site batch plant as well as careful planning and coordination
Project Overview
The runway at Michael Army Airfield (MAAF) was originally constructed in 1951, and by 2006 it was in desperate need of repair. The airfield is located in a remote area of western Utah on a 450,000-acre live bombing/training base known as Dugway Proving Ground. This space provides aircraft carrying live a safe place to land in an unpopulated area in the event of systems or equipment failure. Over the years, the runway has been used for a number of emergency and scheduled military landings. NASA also utilized the airfield for critical recovery operations of the Genesis and Stardust Mission crafts and as a landing site for the X-33 space vehicle.
Sundt’s scope of work at MAAF included on-site central mix production of concrete as well as placing and finishing for a new full-length concrete runway, multiple taxiways and two aircraft parking aprons. The runway project included 64,000 cubic yards of Portland Cement Concrete Paving (PCCP) for a new 11,000-foot runway. The second project consisted of producing and placing 20,400 cubic yards of PCCP in 18 days. Several times on both projects we had to evacuate for unscheduled emergency landings.
The site can experience extreme winds mixed with the summer heat, which puts stress on placing and finishing quality concrete. In light of that fact, it was our goal to place concrete as quickly as possible. Both projects completed ahead of schedule—the second project 238 days early.
Contacts
Awards & Accolades
Excellence in Paving Commercial Service & Military Airports Recognition of High-Quality Construction, 2006 and 2008 – American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA), Utah Chapter