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Mumbai’s airport, which which will be undergoing major re-carpeting work of its runway in October-November, will be adopting latest state-of-the-art technology that will not only do away with heavy equipment but will also help ensure that the work is completed in almost half the scheduled time, thereby minimising resulting flight cancellations and delays to a considerable extent.
The technology, which is referred to as Airport Grade Steel Technology (AGST), is being used at some of the major airports in the world at present, including those in the US, China, Australia and Chile. It is also used for roads in Thailand.
The technology allows for the easy application of a layer to the runway, which gets dry within a couple of hours instead of taking a longer time as with the conventional method used at present. Most importantly, about half a kilometer of the runway can be completed within 20 minutes, thereby reducing the time for which the runway can’t operate and thus avoiding inconvenience to the passengers.
Experts are of the opinion that the technology, if successful, can be extended to road repairs and construction across the country.
According to Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) officials, the re-carpeting and refurbishing of the runway is planned in two phases starting from April-May in order to prevent its degradation and improve its strength.
The major work will however happen between October 17 and November 30, when operations will be shut for five hours during the afternoon on every Monday and Thursday. This will result in the suspension of all flights during the same time and therefore a possible increase in air fares.
An MIAL source said that though they have asked for NOTAM for about 12 sessions, they expect to complete the work within seven to eight sessions due to the technology.
According to airport officials, AGSG is a polymer-modified, asphalt emulsion-based, dense-graded and cold-mixed quick-setting resurfacing material. It is designed to be applied in a semi-liquid condition with a specialised mixing and paving machine. “It chemically changes from a semi-liquid material to a dense cold mix material that is able to carry normal traffic within two to three hours,” said an airport insider aware about the project implementation.
The life expectancy of the said technology is around three to five years, the airport official said. The material used for it would be entirely produced and tested in California before being shipped to Mumbai in sealed containers.
According to the MIAL official, the runway has completed about 70% of its expected life, while the intersection area between the primary and secondary runways has completed about 83%.
The degradation gets enhanced due to a loss of asphalt flexibility and binding capabilities that are a result of exposure to sun, air, rain and jet blast.
[“Source-dnaindia”]