Pavements are one of the largest capital investments at an airport. Regardless of the funding source, airports need to maintain their pavements. Smaller airports, typically general aviation airports, have issues coming up with matching funds (if accepting a Federal Grant) and, therefore, struggle to implement pavement maintenance activities. And while there is a lot of literature and material on pavement maintenance options, these materials tend to be written for the airport engineer with a technical background on pavement design and the ability to identify root causes of pavement distress, and not with the airport manager or maintenance staff in mind. Many general aviation airports lack in-house expertise in pavement issues due to their limited staff that usually consists of an airport manager and some maintenance staff, making it difficult for them to select the best pavement maintenance option. The type and frequency of aircraft that use the airport along with the climatic region, pavement age, and condition are factors in determining whether maintenance or rehabilitation is the best option.  There is little guidance for airport managers and maintenance staff presented in a non-technical manner to help them understand pavement distress issues and determine the appropriate maintenance option.

STATUS: Report 159:  Pavement Maintenance Guidelines for General Aviation Airport Management, has been published, along with a Field Guide intended to assist in identifying specific pavement issues in the field and  The Airport Pavement Recommendation Tool is an interactive tool to assist in identifying pavement issues., which can be found on the TRB website as "Report 159".