TITLE:
Rubblization of Shaybah Airport Runway Pavement—A Sustainable Circular Economy Solution
AUTHORS:
Helder M. Martins, Hussain I. Al-Aithan, Nezar H. Al-Khalifah
KEYWORDS:
Rubblization, Shaybah Airport, Circular Economy, PMI Excellence Award
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Civil Engineering,
Vol.12 No.2,
June
28,
2022
ABSTRACT: Shaybah airport runway upgrade construction work was successfully
completed in 77 days, four months ahead of the contractual construction
execution schedule. The
project was honored with the PMI 2020 Project Excellence Award for Europe,
Africa and the Middle East. Rubblization
of existing concrete pavement was one of the
key factors for the early completion and project achievements and
awards. Rubblization technology was used to crush existing worn-out Shaybah
airport runway concrete pavement, keeping the integrity of underneath
sub-grades, and reused as a structurally strong base course to overlay hot mix
asphalt. This paper will share the success story behind the process of
selection, definition, sourcing, implementation, validation and acceptance of
rubblized concrete pavement, and its contribution to the Shaybah Airport Runway
Upgrade Project’s achievements. This paper presents Rubblization as a
practical, cost effective and sustainable option for repairing deteriorated
airfield concrete pavement, and will also demonstrate how the implementation of
rubblization of runway pavement contributes to the Saudi Aramco initiative to
adopt circular economy principles. The circular economy unlocks economic
opportunities, preserves natural resources, and improves environmental
performance, an initiative sponsored by Saudi Aramco executive management.