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Milling contractor Intercounty Paving brought its entire fleet of 950-hp cold planers to this high-profile project at JFK airport in New York City.

t doesn't get much more high-profile than this highly publicized job:

Take the busiest runway at one of the world's busiest airports and shut it down for 120 days. During that brief four-month window of opportunity, completely rebuild the runway from the ground up, or… Well, the penalties to the contractors if they do not accomplish their mission within the allotted time span can be easily described as "astronomical."

The Bay Runway (13R-31L) at New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport is 14,472 ft. (4,411 m) in length—which makes it the second longest commercial runway in the United States. It is long enough that NASA has designated the Bay Runway as a backup runway for space-shuttle missions. This main runway handles approximately one half of the airport's departures. Beginning March 1, 2010, general contractor Tutor Perini Corporation has 120 days to excavate the entire runway, widen it from 150 ft. (45.7 m) to 200 ft. (61 m), and rebuild it with 18 in. (46 cm) of concrete on the mainline, and hot-mix asphalt on the shoulders.

Heading up the efforts to remove the existing runway—the majority of which was built with asphalt —is subcontractor Intercounty Paving Associates, LLC. This Hackettstown, New Jersey-based organization, founded in 1997 by brothers Carl and John Lizza, is a full-service construction company specializing in asphalt paving and milling. For the JFK Bay Runway project, Intercounty Paving is handling all the milling as well as the placement of hotmix asphalt on the shoulders of the main runway.

Of the 12 milling machines currently owned by Intercounty Paving, the eight newest ones (all purchased between 2004 and 2008) are Roadtec RX-900 cold planers. Five of these 950-hp milling machines are equipped to make 12 ft. 6 in. (3.8 m) cuts; the other three are capable of 7 ft. 2 in. (2.2 m) cuts. And all eight are on the JFK Bay Runway site.

"We will be running the 12-footers on the main runway," said Joseph LaPlaca, milling superintendent for Intercounty Paving. "The 7- foot machines will be working outside the main runway, on the taxiways, the tie-ins, and the old shoulders."

After beginning work on the mainline on March 2, the Intercounty Paving milling crews were already nearing completion when LaPlaca was interviewed during the third week of the project.

"The job has been going very well for us," said LaPlaca. "A lot of that success has to do with our firepower. I believe in horsepower. I wouldn't buy anything other than the Roadtec RX-900 with 950 horsepower. I am a believer that it is better to have the power and not need it than to need the power and not have it."

Tight specifications and unusual requirements

As one might expect, doing construction work on one of the longest and busiest runways in the United States brings with it a high degree of intensity, tight specifications, and some unusual requirements.

One requirement that was out of the ordinary involved security background checks. Anyone who would be present on the jobsite first had to pass a safety course with Tutor Perini. Then each individual had to pass a background and security check performed by the Secure Worker Access Consortium (S.W.A.C.). Once approved to go on the jobsite, personnel enter the highly secure runway area, which has been cordoned off with concrete barriers, fences, and razor wire.

"The jobsite is completely sealed off from the rest of the airport. Once you come in, there is only one way out," said LaPlaca. "It is not your average job."

Another unique aspect of this project, in addition to the tight security, is tight specifications for the milling portion of the job.

The Roadtec RX-900 cold planers are equipped with a Topcon Millimeter GPS system. Utilizing this system, transmitters are placed along the length of the runway. These connect with the milling machines to communicate the desired profile and precise vertical measurements, ensuring a grade that is cut exactly to the job's specifications.

High pressure and serious service

On the mainline, up to five of the Roadtec RX-900 cold planers with 12-ft. drums run at once, utilizing the Topcon Millimeter GPS system. Having that many identical machines can be an advantage in case one of the other machines in operation should experience a mechanical breakdown.

The cold planers working on the mainline are milling to provide for 18 in. (45.7 cm) of concrete.

Outside of the mainline—on the taxiways, tie-ins, and existing shoulders—three Roadtec RX-900 cold planers with 7-ft. drums are excavating all the way down to the sub-base. "Those cuts could be anywhere from six inches to 30 inches," said LaPlaca.

Having these powerful machines —and plenty of them—on hand was critical, particularly in the first days of the job. LaPlaca explained that before any other work could begin on the project, his crews had to get in and complete the milling work. "We had a lot of pressure on us to get out of the way," he said.

It did not take long before the Intercounty Paving crews experienced a real-world example of why it is a good practice to keep one or two machines on standby in timesensitive projects such as this. The first day of milling work, one of the cold planers blew a clutch. Intercounty Paving quickly shuffled one of the alternates out onto the runway, and milling continued with hardly any delay.

LaPlaca said the Roadtec service team shifted into full gear. The machine went down on Tuesday, a new clutch was ordered from Roadtec's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee that day, the new part was delivered on site Wednesday, and by Thursday, the Roadtec RX-900 was back on the runway working again.

"Downtime with Roadtec is very, very minimal," said LaPlaca. "The machines are built very well. There are not a lot of major breakdowns. And the service is second to none —so if I do have a major breakdown of some kind, they get right on it for me. That's one reason I am a Roadtec fan."

Once the project was in full swing on March 4, LaPlaca said his crew of six operators, 12 sidemen, and two foremen worked 12-hour shifts—7 a.m. to 7 p.m.—until March 11. In those eight days, the bulk of a total of 320,000 sq yd 9267,561 sq m) of material had been removed from the JFK Bay Runway. According to Intercounty Paving Project Supervisor Jim Egerter, the cold planers will remove a total of 100,000 yd3 (76,455 m3) from the runways, shoulders, taxiways, and tie-ins.

Throughout this grueling schedule, LaPlaca said the Roadtec pavers have held up well.

"We have been hitting a lot of light cans that were buried in the old shoulders," he said. "Those knock off holders and we have to weld them back on. We have also been going through a lot of teeth. This is some of the hardest asphalt that I have known in my 20-year career.

"But Roadtecs always hold up," LaPlaca added. "They are built well from the start, so you don't have a lot of the issues that I have seen in the past with other brands. I swear by Roadtec RX- 900s. I wouldn't even consider buying anything else."