UHPC Phalt for Highly Stressed De-Icing Areas at Oslo Airport

Airports place particularly high demands on the durability of traffic surfaces. In addition to wheel loads, braking forces and shear stresses, apron and de-icing areas are exposed to water, freeze-thaw cycles, de-icing agents and chemical attack. At Oslo Airport, this technical challenge was already addressed in 2000 on a heavily used de-icing area. The approximately 6,000 m² surface was constructed with a UHPC Phalt system in order to provide long-term protection for the existing asphalt structure against liquid ingress and resulting settlement damage.

 

The original asphalt pavement showed settlement problems because de-icing liquids were able

to penetrate through the surface into the underlying base course. This caused contamination and progressive deterioration of the supporting layer. For a de-icing area, this is particularly critical because the surface must not only be load-bearing, but also highly impermeable, slip-resistant and durable under exposure to water and chemical media.

Before installation, 6 cm of the existing asphalt pavement was milled off. The area was then cleaned and sealed with a bitumen emulsion. A 60 mm UHPC Phalt pavement layer was subsequently installed. The system combines an asphalt-based load-bearing skeleton with a high-strength mineral UHPC mortar, which is introduced into the open asphalt structure. This creates a dense, high-performance and nearly joint-free composite pavement with significantly reduced liquid absorption.

After installation, the surface was treated with a curing compound. To improve skid resistance, the pavement was then shot-blasted. Particularly critical areas, such as joints and connections around drainage outlets, were additionally sealed with polymer-modified bitumen. This type of detailing is essential for airport surfaces, because local ingress points for water and de-icing liquids are often the starting point for later pavement damage.

The use of WPE-DK UHPC Phalt in this project demonstrates that semi-rigid UHPC-asphalt systems can provide a technical alternative to conventional asphalt pavements where high impermeability, load-bearing capacity, chemical resistance and skid resistance are required at the same time. For de-icing areas, aprons, maintenance zones and similar airport infrastructure, UHPC Phalt therefore offers a high-performance protection and service-life extension system, especially where liquid ingress into the substructure, freeze-thaw exposure and intensive operational loading act together.