FAA FAA-RD-76-179 PDF

Criteria were developed based upon state-of-the-art technology; i.e., no extensive field or laboratory testing program to generate information was conducted. The basis for the criteria was primarily a downward extrapolation of information developed for pavements designed for heavier loadings, supplemented and/or modified with performance data available from existing pavements that have been designed for and subjected to loadings comparable to that of light aircraft. The areas investigated and discussed in this report are:

a. Conventional flexible pavement design.

b. Conventional rigid pavement design.

c. Design of rigid and flexible pavements containing stabilized layers.

d. Design of pavements containing membrane-encapsulated soil layers (MESL).

e. Unsurfaced soil area design.

f. Cost-benefit analysis.

g. Construction of thin rigid pavements.

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to develop pavement design procedures for light aircraft. (Pavements for light aircraft are defined as those intended to accommodate aircraft with gross weights less than 30,000 lb.)