CRESTVIEW — An asphalt mix first used at Bob Sikes Airport is not only now a national airports standard; military runway authorities also might soon specify it.
“Crestview mix” — officially known as Federal Aviation Administration specification P601 — is stronger than standard asphalt and is substantially impervious to deterioration by leaking jet fuel.
Following the FAA’s July 2014 addition of the mix to its list of design specifications, the Air Force, Navy and Army are following suit.
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have recently put it on their agenda for consideration as a new military specification,” AVCON Engineers and Planners regional manager Lee Lewis said.
'THE FUTURE'
The mix, laid at Bob Sikes Airport in October 2011, took some jumping through bureaucratic hoops for approval, Lewis said.
While it impressed officials at the now-defunct Florida Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, which funded the project, and the Department of Transportation, neither agency was willing to approve its use.
But when AVCON consultant and nationally recognized airports paving expert Bob Boyer declared the new specification exceeded county and state project specs, approval was swift.
“The DOT said it would make a great demonstration project for the Aviation Office,” Lewis said. “Dr. Boyer stood up, put his hands on the table, and said, ‘Gentlemen, this is not a demonstration; this is the future of airport paving.’”
THE THREE A’s
Three components, Lewis said, make up asphalt: asphalt binder, the black gooey stuff; air; and aggregate, “the rocks.”
Crestview mix — known as CM in the industry — adds a polymer that created stronger asphalt less prone to breaking down in hot weather or when doused with jet fuel.
“The more polymer you add, the better the asphalt performs, but the more you add, the harder it is to compact it, to roll it out,” Lewis said.
Boyer easily solved that problem.
“He reduced size of aggregate and reduced air voids in the mix,” Lewis said.
Just in case, AVCON ordered heavier-than-usual rollers to stand by when the mix was laid at Bob Sikes Airport, but they proved unnecessary, Lewis said.
Before introducing CM at a professional conference, Lewis asked Boyer if he could tell his audience it was the best asphalt paving in Florida.
“You can tell them it’s the best asphalt pavement ever put down in this country,” Boyer replied.
DISTINGUISHED COMPANY
After CM proved its mettle at Bob Sikes Airport, it was soon laid at airports in Panama City and West Jacksonville, Lewis said.
Authorities at the Miami and Lexington, Ky., international airports are discussing with AVCON about using Crestview mix on their respective runways.
The Alabama Department of Transportation is not only interested in using CM at its airports, but on highways as well, Lewis said.
Yesterday, Lewis flew to Denver to present the new specifications at the American Association of Airports Executives’ Airport Planning, Design and Construction Symposium.
“It was an inevitable development,” Lewis said. “It was coming, but we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'Crestview mix' now a national, soon military, standard