Brize Norton Runway Melting

[WB627]

Reports on Sky News that the runway is melting. Not for the first time IIRC.

Apparently steps have been taken to ensure this does not affect operations.

[622]

Surely...taking the steps away will definitely affect operations?.......

.....Boom boom....:E

[langleybaston]

Surely...taking the steps away will definitely affect operations?.......

.....Boom boom....:E

Borrow a bouncy castle

[Nil_Drift]

Reports on Sky News that the runway is melting. Not for the first time IIRC.

Last year, causing aircraft to operate out of civil airports for several weeks. Shame that Lyneham wasn't available as an immediate BOLTHOLE.

Cranwell also has melting parking surfaces in recent days and that's before the record temperatures.

[MATELO]

Apparently steps have been taken to ensure this does not affect operations.

Looks like the current airborne jets are heading towards Prestwick after tasking.

[Saintsman]

Another example of the folly of having all your eggs in one basket.

I wonder who it was who though basing all your transport fleet at one location was a good idea?

Probably an accountant…

[sangiovese.]

Never been a problem in the Middle East….

[Nil_Drift]

I wonder who it was who thought basing all your transport fleet at one location was a good idea?

Quite a few of us know but, apart from this shocking decision, he's a thoroughly 'top chap' so I, for one, will not say who he is. Needless to say he got another couple of ranks out of it before he left the Service.

He was aircrew, not an accountant, although once suggested, the latter probably took ownership of the idea.

[Ken Scott]

Never been a problem in the Middle East….

Indeed, there never were any issues (with the airport) operating out of Basrah when the temp was 50 degrees C in the shade. It could tax the aircraft and crews a little though.

[just another jocky]

And now Luton.

London Luton Airport flights suspended as heat affects runway - BBC News (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-62212385)

[Doors to Automatic]

What makes the runways at places like DXB or AUH better at withstanding heat?

[typerated]

Looks like the current airborne jets are heading towards Prestwick after tasking.

Why not Fairford? Or Boscombe? Or Waddington?

[NutLoose]

They could always buy Finningley back.

[kintyred]

Where was it that the roof blew off a new hangar recently?

[Bengo]

What makes the runways at places like DXB or AUH better at withstanding heat?

There is tarmac, and there is tarmac. They all broadly consist of selected stones stuck together with a binding agent. There are lots of different recipes for the binder.

You select your brew according to the conditions you expect it to mostly work in. For particularly sunny weather the insolation will make the tarmac hot, damn hot, so, in, say , DXB you need a brew that stays firm when hot. It probably won't cool down too much overnight.

In the UK it is not commonly hot and sunny very often, so you need a brew that is still flexible enoughwhen cool to cold and is resistant to lots of rain. It will not be as durable if it gets hot.

N

[Willard Whyte]

Another example of the folly of having all your eggs in one basket.

I wonder who it was who though basing all your transport fleet at one location was a good idea?

Probably an accountant…

It was a Wg Cdr Engineer - well, he was certainly on the team. Nice enough chap but just came up with the answer he was told to find.

[Willard Whyte]

Why not Fairford? Or Boscombe? Or Waddington?

Well Waddo ATC normally go lullaby baby after 18:00.

[Stationair8]

Bring back the allover grass runway.

[dctyke]

Bring back the allover grass runway.

ww2 concrete squares seem to have faired well over the last 80 years!

[skua]

Woodbridge's (sorry, Rock's) grass strip is probably still open for business, albeit a bit dusty.

[sangiovese.]

There is tarmac, and there is tarmac. They all broadly consist of selected stones stuck together with a binding agent. There are lots of different recipes for the binder.

You select your brew according to the conditions you expect it to mostly work in. For particularly sunny weather the insolation will make the tarmac hot, damn hot, so, in, say , DXB you need a brew that stays firm when hot. It probably won't cool down too much overnight.

In the UK it is not commonly hot and sunny very often, so you need a brew that is still flexible enoughwhen cool to cold and is resistant to lots of rain. It will not be as durable if it gets hot.

N

Gosh I hate it when people use facts and reasoning! Thanks for the reply sounds good

[NutLoose]

So really you want a mid mix or dual runways one hard and one soft, or as mentioned concrete.

[nickp]

I have an idea that the joints are the problem with concrete. I think Heathrow had concrete (in the sixties?) that was tarmaced over.

[Willard Whyte]

There is tarmac, and there is tarmac. They all broadly consist of selected stones stuck together with a binding agent. There are lots of different recipes for the binder.

You select your brew according to the conditions you expect it to mostly work in. For particularly sunny weather the insolation will make the tarmac hot, damn hot, so, in, say , DXB you need a brew that stays firm when hot. It probably won't cool down too much overnight.

In the UK it is not commonly hot and sunny very often, so you need a brew that is still flexible enough when cool to cold and is resistant to lots of rain. It will not be as durable if it gets hot.

N
Sound logic, although one must question why all runways in the UK do not seem to be similarly affected. Perhaps cost is also a factor in the brew?

[Bengo]

Sound logic, although one must question why all runways in the UK do not seem to be similarly affected. Perhaps cost is also a factor in the brew?

Certainly. Engineering is involved😎

​Other factors are things like age (the bitumen content oxidises with age and goes harder/more brittle/less melty) and the substructure of the runway and the nature of ground. The latter affect the ability of the runway to transfer solar heat from the blacktop into the ground. If you are building a new runway you can plan for such things. If you have one that is about 80 years old, and built in a hurry, probably, they areexpensive to change
N

[dead_pan]

Shame they didn't think to put a grass strip alongside the main runway. That would mean only a quarter of the fleet (by type) based there would need to redeploy.

[MPN11]

… or build airfields with parallel taxiways that could provide wartime redundancy, etc. But we never did that sort of thing, even under the threat of Soviet attacks. “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

[FarWest]

The Battleflight at Wildenrath would use the taxiways to launch if the runway was obstructed.

[DuncanDoenitz]

My understanding was that all the Clutch bases were designed with that intention; 1 runway and 2 parallel taxiways.

[MPN11]

I should have said "UK" of course. Sadly our WW2 layouts didn't often lend themselves to such avant garde ideas.

[luckyrat]

As a frequent flyer in and out of Brize every 6 weeks for the last 23 years, en route to and from the Falklands. I know for a fact this is not the first time this has happened!
So what lesson’s learned from the past?…….. Nothing 😼!
In a few months time the hot sticky stuff will be covered in snow and ice, and it will be closed again because no one ever expected snow and ice to happen in winter due to the global warming we have now…

[SLXOwft]

I understand ops were normal at CY today even with UK record high temperature. PCN 75/F/A/W/T obviously better asphalt than PCN 81/F/B/W/T in the ambient conditions :E All down to the subgrade??? Or perhaps the weight of the regular users (aircraft not aircrew)?

[Stu666]

Why don't we use concrete runways anymore?

[langleybaston]

As a frequent flyer in and out of Brize every 6 weeks for the last 23 years, en route to and from the Falklands. I know for a fact this is not the first time this has happened!
So what lesson’s learned from the past?…….. Nothing 😼!
In a few months time the hot sticky stuff will be covered in snow and ice, and it will be closed again because no one ever expected snow and ice to happen in winter due to the global warming we have now…

A very good and far-reaching question. The answer is two-part: cost / benefit ratio, and prestige projects versus maintenance.

As a small example: my Met Office was ordered to charge Leeds Fire Service for Warnings [hitherto free] of snow, ice, and severe wind conditions. Leeds refused to pay. Of course I asked why, and a rather senior officer explained off the record: " a shiny new appliance is good politics. A set of replacement tyres makes nobody happy"