Product Spotlight

Lake Placid Airport, located in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, is a public use airport with a single runway measuring 4,200 feet by 60 feet.  The airport was having issues with wide transverse cracks on the runway and attempted to use conventional methods such as hot mix asphalt and crack fillers, but was not having success. The design and engineering firm in charge of the repairs had previously seen a presentation on Crafco PolyPatch and thought it might be the best solution for the transverse cracks.  The project also included random crack sealing and sections of full depth remove and replace.  Bothar Construction was awarded the project and was given a construction schedule of 7 days which included full closure of the airport runway.

Crafco PolyPatch is a prepackaged blend of polymer modified asphalt and select aggregate that is designed for specific asphalt concrete repairs, one of them being filling cracks that are too large for crack sealing.  The material must be heated in an oil jacketed Crafco Patcher I or II melter and then applied directly to the repair area by use of the gravity feed chute on the machine.  PolyPatch is self leveling and highly adhesive, retaining flexibility and providing voidless, waterproof, and good load-bearing repairs.

For the transverse cracks at Lake Placid Airport, a 6 inch wide by 3 inch deep cut was milled over the crack, providing a reservoir to accept a sufficient amount of PolyPatch material to accommodate pavement movement.  The cut was centered over each crack.  The repair area was blown clean and dried using a hot air lance, and then the crack was filled flush to the bottom of the reservoir using Crafco Roadsaver 221 crack sealant.  PolyPatch was applied in two lifts, with the first lift filled to within ¾ of an inch of the pavement surface.  The material of the first lift is manipulated into place using heated tools provided with the Patcher I and II melters and the second lift is applied using a box lute, which provides the specified overband width and thickness.  The edges of the overband are then heated using a torch to ensure a flush, well adhered finished application.

Over 1000 gallons of PolyPatch were placed on the runway in milled reservoirs to repair the edge-to-edge transverse cracks that measured over 3 inches wide.  While this worksite had a 7-day closure, a repair area can typically be trafficked within 2 hours after placement of the final lift.  The Lake Placid Airport project took place in September of 2008, and over two years later the PolyPatch continues to perform when all other materials had failed.  PolyPatch has increased the safety and ride quality of the runway while also preventing infiltration of water and incompressibles.