The Tooele Valley airport project consisted of 3D milling and paving of the taxiways and runway, the installation of new LED light fixtures, new striping, survey markers and grade work. The work was phased to allow for the runway to remain open as long as possible. A two-week closure was allowed for the 3D milling, paving, striping, electrical installation, etc. for all things related to the runway.
What makes this project unique is that all the taxiways and runway were redone. This project was 3D milling and paving of the entire airport, save a staging area for planes. The 3D design of the project was such that Granite Construction, Inc.’s internal and external survey teams spent months redesigning the owner’s design due to constructability errors. The original design caused the 3D milling to remove all of the HMA in the runway in certain locations. This caused a chain reaction that increased the milling SY and resulted in a change order for lane leveling of the deficient areas. Jackson was responsive in removing and squaring up the deficient areas so they could be paved. Granite Construction, Inc. mobilized a paving crew specifically for the patchwork paving caused by the design. The survey crews on this project are what made it a success. Both internally and externally, an extensive amount of survey work was done pre-construction with the design, during construction with survey crews onsite with multiple total stations tracking mill depths and paving final elevations, joint layout etc.
Workplace safety was especially critical during the runway phase with so many moving parts. Milling, Echelon paving with two shuttle buggies, over 25 trucks for both operations, crack sealing, surveyors and owner’s reps. The work was phased on the runway to create an environment for maximum production for each work type while maintaining the safest possible layout for each type of work.
The project received an overall pay factor on the HMA of 1.06. The highest available factor from the FAA. Inspections and reports were done daily and submitted to the owner as part of the QA/QC Plan. The owner was highly involved with multiple onsite meetings with the design team, inspection team and other airport reps.
