13th CAB Aircraft Loading & Refueling Apron

The first United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) 32 13 11 airfield specification project constructed at Fort Carson, this project consisted of 30,000 SY of 7 inch doweled and reinforced concrete pavement for the 13th Cavalry Air Battalion (CAB). The project was designed to provide a refueling apron for the 13th Combat Aviation Brigade helicopter unit. The apron consisted of a taxi lane tying into an existing runway, leading into a 900’ x 360’ apron. Pavement surface runoff flows into four industrial trench drains installed in the middle of the apron, and IHC installed 114 in-pavement mooring point tie-downs and 38 in-pavement grounding points for helicopter parking.

Crews utilized innovative techniques to place the Open Graded Material 4” Drainage Layer with a concrete paver. This same paver was utilized to construct the taxi lane and apron in pilot and filler lanes. A misting system was fabricated and installed on both the paver and the cure machine to help minimize any excessive evaporation due to the hot and windy weather notorious at the location. All paving was performed in accordance with the USACE heavy airfield paving specification in order to provide a long lasting, durable pavement for years to come.

Crews were all required to go through an extensive on site safety orientation before being allowed into the secured airfield, as active operations were ongoing throughout the project. The project resulted in zero lost time accidents and was the CO/WY ACPA Chapter Gold Winner for Commercial Service and Military Airports.