Each year, APTech employees look forward to attending the Airport Consultants Council’s (ACC’s) Airports Technical Workshop (ATW). The conference provides a variety of informative sessions for airport engineering and planning consultants to confer with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) staff on how to better the industry. The event took place from July 19 to July 20 and covered the latest in airport design, engineering, planning, and environmental topics.

While much of this year’s focus was on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles and associated facility planning and design considerations, there was also great coverage for pavement engineering. In particular, APTech’s Katie Gauthier, P.E., made the firm proud with her presentation on Aircraft Classification Rating (ACR)/Pavement Condition Rating (PCR) Updating in Reporting Airfield Pavement Strength – Case Studies. Katie was part of a panel with two FAA headquarters members who discussed two new FAA Advisory Circular (AC) updates: 150/5335-5D, Standardized Method for Reporting Airport Pavement Strength, and 150/5320-6G, Airport Pavement Design and Evaluation.

Katie’s presentation focused on the AC 150/5335-5D update that now advises airports to report PCR for pavement strength, which is compared to ACR for the aircraft that traffic through airports. This updated methodology will now replace the previously used Pavement Classification Number and Aircraft Classification Number processes. The new standard is important, as it aligns with the updated 150/5320-6G pavement design guidelines and International Civil Aviation Organization standards. Katie presented calculations comparing results using both the old and new methods to identify their differences. Her discussion included an airport case study that APTech completed where PCNs were calculated and showed how updated PCR calculations for the very same airport changed the critical aircraft for various areas on the airfield.

APTech President Monty Wade, P.E. and the Program Director for Commercial Airports Genevieve (Gen) Long, P.E. were also in attendance for this event. “Katie did a fantastic job on her presentation and it was great to see pavements get comprehensive coverage throughout the event,” said Gen. “This conference is always engaging and a pleasure to attend.” Full information about the event can be found on the event website.

Please visit APTech’s website for more information about our work in airport pavement management as well as providing evaluation and design services.