It’s one of the many calls airport managers dread receiving. The voice on the other end says: “We’ve got a problem.” The runway has just experienced a major pavement heave and it needs to be fixed right away to keep aircraft operations from coming to a grinding halt. Crews quickly go to work, utilizing materials that are kept on-site: a pavement grinder, patch material, sealant — anything to keep the runway functional for the time being. Sometimes, this is all that can be done in the schedule-driven world of commercial aviation — often it isn’t enough.

To truly avoid a scenario like the one described above, an airport must implement measures that prevent such pavement failures. Unfortunately, prevention is often impossible to achieve because pavements at airports are often as old as the airport itself. The good news is, no matter an airport’s size, function or capacity, having a robust pavement maintenance program and plan in place that commits dedicated resources to aging infrastructure is the most effective way to foster pavement resiliency.

Executing such a pavement maintenance program is straightforward — following the road map laid out by that program can be challenging for airport operators. This challenge often stems from lack of funding or qualified maintenance staff to make the necessary repairs or implement the appropriate maintenance.

For these reasons, it is essential that airport management view a pavement maintenance program as more than just “checking the box.” Managers, maintenance staff and operations staff must be involved from the inception of a program. This allows the airport to set goals that have the most impact on the pavement systems. By identifying what items can be reasonably funded and maintained, the airport can avoid setting unreasonable capital improvement goals that cannot receive funding or have programmed cost estimates that have not been properly vetted.