Runway 8-26 Resiliency Study at Joint Base Langley-Eustis

Project Details

Connico provided life cycle cost analysis for the resiliency study project which aimed to reconstruct Runway 8-26 at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE) to increase resiliency by improving drainage infrastructure, stabilizing subgrade, and regrading the airfield. Each Course of Action (COA) proposed different reconstruction alternatives that impacted cost, construction schedule, and resiliency. The COAs included:

• COA 0 ‐ Continue Annual Maintenance
• COA 1 ‐ Rehabilitate with New Shoulders
• COA 2 ‐ Construct North Parallel Runway
• COA 3 ‐ Unbonded Concrete Overlay
• COA 4 ‐ Asphalt Concrete Overlay
• COA 5 ‐ Raise Runway in Place (Concrete)
• COA 6 ‐ Raise Runway in Place (Asphalt)
• COA 7 ‐ Relocate Runway to West
• COA 8 ‐ Raise Runway and Relocate West

Connico’s life cycle cost analysis included initial construction costs for the design alternatives of each COA, varying amounts of continual maintenances based on the resiliency of each proposed design, construction costs of base layout changes caused by the new runway alignment, owner construction costs, and the costs of operation relocation. The culmination of these factors allowed for construction size, resiliency, construction duration, and the impact to base operations which were all considered in which COA would be selected.

For implementation, the Raise Runway in Place (Asphalt), COA 6, was chosen. This project is also pegged for selection for the military construction (MILCON) program which enables the appropriation of funding to support the Department of Defense’s (DOD) military installations with the planning, programming, designing, and building of infrastructure projects.

Challenges & Solutions

The current runway is dealing with a frequent issue posed to any coastal area – sea-level rise and subsidence. JBLE constantly faces shutdowns caused by rain events that could potentially be mitigated by increased storm drainage infrastructure improvements and higher grades. To properly incorporate this impact, Connico had to determine base operation impacts because of these frequent coastal area issues and factor them into their life cycle cost analysis. Through the life cycle of a newly proposed runway, it was determined that the increased construction cost of hauling in 175,000 cubic yards of borrow material would be more financially viable than keeping the runway at its current grade.