Selfridge Air National Guard Base Runway 01-19 Upgrade and Electrical Vault

Runway 1-19 reconstruction included 2,250-foot concrete pavement ends and a 6,500-foot asphalt center section.

PBS&J provided architecture and engineering design services for the extension of Runway 01-19 and reconstruction of the electrical vault at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan. The project involved the reconstruction of the 9,000-foot-long runway, both 1,000-foot overruns, and the construction of a turnaround taxiway at the south end. Extending the runway to 10,000 feet was necessary to allow loading of heavier aircraft. The new turnaround taxiway pavement area will allow departing aircraft to make full use of the new 10,000-foot runway length and conforms to Selfridge's overall master construction plan.

The existing World War II runway had been built in many phases, resulting in 12 different pavement cross sections. PBS&J used recent HWD testing conducted by Tyndall AFB, numerous historical geotechnical investigations, and project-specific borings to identify the 12 sections. It was determined that the most cost-efficient removal and reconstruction solution was to reconstruct the runway in two parts using both concrete and asphalt pavements. The first and last 1,250 feet of concrete pavement was replaced in kind, along with a subsurface drainage layer. The interior 6,500 feet of asphalt runway was stripped of asphalt, the underlying 21-inch-thick concrete pavement was rubblized, and a 9-inch-thick layer of asphalt was placed. Key to the project was limiting overall grade rise to about four inches, which minimized transitions to intersecting runways and taxiways. A BAK-12 aircraft-arresting unit was also installed. Electrical improvements included an upgrade to the airfield power distribution and lighting system, including the replacement of the airfield lighting vault; upgrading the runway lighting to include an Approach Light System (ALSF-1) and a Short Approach Lighting System (SALSF).