Granite Receives Associated General Contractors of California 2020 Constructor Award for Sacramento International Airport Runway 16R-34L Project
Granite completed the $31.7 million Runway 16R-34L Rehabilitation Project at the Sacramento International Airport in October 2019. In late January 2021, the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of California awarded the project the 2020 Constructor Award for Heavy Civil – Under $35 Million – one of two AGC of California awards Granite has received this year. The project has also been recognized by American Concrete Pavement Association National Gold Award for Excellence in Concrete Pavement, by ENR California as a Regional Best Project in 2020, by American Public Works Association’s Sacramento Chapter as Project of the Year, and Granite’s 2020 Technology Innovation Award.
“Six months is an aggressive timeline to replace a runway, and so our teams planned down to the hour to meet our deadlines,” said Granite Project Manager Steve Lynch. “With the scope addition of repaving four taxiways and reconstructing two full blast pad, along with extensive electrical upgrades, it goes to show how nimble our team is and the strength of their communication and skill to not only complete the runway on time but to also receive this type of recognition. We had amazing partners in our subcontractors and suppliers on this project, all of them were committed to the project goals and timelines. The team has earned every accolade for this job well done.”
The project consisted of a complete demolition and reconstruction of the existing runway and runway electrical systems in just six and a half months. The new runway design included a subsurface drainage system, 8 inches of lean concrete base, 16 inches of concrete pavement, saw-cut grooving, joint sealing, an all-new electrical lighting system, a rebuilt approach lighting system, rebuilt blast pads, and mill and fill of the adjoining taxiways. Completing the project in the short time frame was imperative because runway 16R-34L is one of just two runways used by the Sacramento International Airport. It is also the only runway that offers category three lighting that allows pilots to land in foggy conditions, common in Sacramento from late fall through early spring.
To produce the concrete, the team acquired a new RexCon Mobile 12 batch plant and a new concrete paving equipment spread. Onsite recycling crushing and re-using all of the 115,000 cubic yards of demolished materials from the old runway back into the project or on adjacent projects. The paving crew utilized stringless 3D machine guidance technology to help generate a remarkably smooth finished product.
The project team overcame multiple challenges relating to unforeseen conditions which also grew the scope of the project by $4 million. Crews worked 10-12 hours six to seven days a week to open the runway on the originally scheduled date. In total, the project team worked 105,400 person-hours with zero injuries.
