Fulton Hogan has helped reduce ongoing maintenance costs for the Christchurch International Airport pavements with a potential to double the life of low traffic airside pavements using a pavement sealant called Gilsonite.
Gilsonite essentially works like a cost-efficient ‘sunblock’ solution for lesser-used pavements.
“The Christchurch Airport has over 800,000m2 of pavements, and almost two thirds of this sees little or no traffic and deteriorates only due to environmental factors like the sun, wind or rain”, said Christchurch Airport Project Delivery Manager Peter Matheson.
Gilsonite has been applied to 400,000m2 of the air field so far. It is a natural solid hydrocarbon bitumen. The product is called GSB88, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recognised product, used widely in the USA since the 1980s.
“Gilsonite works well in low traffic areas like runway shoulders and aprons and the cost saving lies in preserving these areas,” said Peter.
Peter says a three month gain in pavement life will make up for the cost of one application. It is applied once and then re-applied every four years.
“Normal runways shoulders last 15 years. This product can extend their life by two or three times and we hope to get another 15 years.” he said.
