Patching the runway last month at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth was a record-breaking endeavor for an Ohio-based defense contractor.
Completing the $4.8 million Runway 18 repair project, crews poured 23,000 five-gallon buckets of Delpatch epoxy to reestablish tarmac length from 9,000 feet back to 12,000 feet, according the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
“The NAS JRB Fort Worth Runway 18 repair project is in fact our single largest project to date that utilized Delpatch,” said Ethan Fuller, pavement division manager for Delpatch manufacturer D.S. Brown Co. “We were certainly excited to team up with the Navy and provide a permanent solution for the runway at NAS JRB Fort Worth.”
Most of the repair work took place along the joints of each concrete panel. Crews removed the existing damaged concrete around the joints, until reaching solid concrete, then filled with Delpatch.
The former Carswell Air Force Base, home of the legendary Strategic Air Command during the Cold War Era, became the first Joint Reserve Base in 1994.
“This project extends the life of the runway for another 20-plus years,” base director of facilities, engineering and acquisition Lt. Isaac Leskowat said.
Except for five days in December when the runway was closed while base personnel traversed the tarmac to collect foreign object debris (FOD), all the repairs were made on an active runway.
“It was a challenging project but a worthwhile one to help support the Navy and the F-35 program,” Fuller said. “Supporting our military is something we take very seriously.”
