Charlotte County Airport (PGD),
Runway 3/21 Rehabilitation

Runway 3/21 at Charlotte County Airport is the primary runway, with higher strength and greater length than secondary Runway 15/33. The pavement for the runway reached its functional design life in 1998.

A design to rehabilitate the runway was done considering the effective condition of the in-place pavement, options to minimize bond and reflective cracking problems, and the operational impacts from construction.

The project construction was generally standard for airport work. However, several depression features formed during milling and/or leveling course construction. These were evaluated with cores and borings as appropriate.

Exploration found the features were confined to a limited zone and showed no extension with depth ruling out a sinkhole. Repair was conventional and done by removing surface and base, recompacting the subgrade, and reconstructing the pavement section. Runway grooving experienced minor deviations that were solved by removing small areas of damaged pavement to preclude FOD problems.

Soon after the project was complete, a medical jet flight landing in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) made a hard touchdown on the runway. The right main gear tires failed and this gear also punctured a fuel tank. The resulting fuel leak caused considerable pavement damage along the aircraft track. A pavement repair design and a contamination containment and cleanup operation were done for the airport. Also, assistance with the insurance claim, paid by the aircraft insurer, was provided.