Apron Pavement Replacement at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport: An Exercise in Cooperation: Fid-Bau Portal

Apron Pavement Replacement at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport: An Exercise in Cooperation

Wilk, Paul A.

Design for the apron pavement at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport began in the 1950's with construction starting in the late 50's. Construction continued for many years through the late 50's and into the 1960's. In fact, it is still being done today with the airport's continued growth. With time, the pavement has aged while it has also been required to handle larger and greater numbers of aircraft. Maintenance and updating of the pavement areas have been continuously needed since original construction. In the early 1990's, the City of Chicago decided it was time to replace the apron pavement in preparation for the new millennium. An ambitious design plan was presented that would replace the pavement around Terminals 2 and 3. With the start of this new construction in 1999, any ambitious time tables or phasing plans were immediately laid waste. Restrictions were put on the amount of interruption to the airline operations and the amount of pavement area to be reconstructed at one time. Proposed work areas were often not adjacent to recently reconstructed areas, effectively making this project a large number of individual projects wedged together. Additional conditions that had to be considered during each phase included such items as variable pavement and base thicknesses, unexpected subgrade conditions, and unexpected utilities. Throughout the project, flexibility has been a key. A close working arrangement with the City of Chicago, the designer, and the contractors has been one of the beneficial features to making this replacement work a success over the years.