Cost-Effective Sustainable Materials in Airport Runway and Highway

This report explores the optimization of sustainable materials in airport runways and highway pavements, focusing on cost factors and value engineering principles. It discusses the technical specifications of pavements, the use of recycled materials like tyre rubber and vegetable fibers, and the importance of considering factors such as Internal Load Factor (ILF) and gear configurations. The research aims to support airport authorities and highway maintenance officials by highlighting the potential of sustainable materials to reduce costs without compromising quality. The report identifies potential research gaps related to communication among stakeholders and the risk of corporate fraud, and outlines a research methodology involving exploratory and descriptive approaches, non-probabilistic sampling, and both primary and secondary data collection to analyze existing pavement structures and recommend improvements.

Running head: OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORs
"Developing the Concept of Using and Optimizing Sustainable Materials at Airport Runway and
Highway Pavement in Respect to Cost Factors”
Name of the Student
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Author Note:

1USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
Abstract
The prime intention of this paper is to focus on the application of value engineering in airport
runways and highways with the help of the modification in the payments. All the technical
specification of the pavements which can be used in these projects will be discussed in this
proposal. Reliability of this paper will be maintained with the help of both primary and
secondary data collection procedures. The theoretical framework, gaps the research will might
have an impact on the reliability of the project and timelines of each of the phases of this
proposal will be also presented in the final unit of the paper.

2USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
Table of Contents
1. Background..................................................................................................................................3
2. Research Significance..................................................................................................................3
3. Research Aim...............................................................................................................................4
4. Research Questions......................................................................................................................4
4.1 Primary Research Question...................................................................................................4
4.2 Secondary Research Questions..............................................................................................4
5. Research Hypothesis....................................................................................................................4
6. Literature Review........................................................................................................................5
7.1 Research Gap.........................................................................................................................7
8. Research Methodology................................................................................................................7
8.1 Research Design....................................................................................................................7
8.2 Sampling................................................................................................................................7
8.3 Research process....................................................................................................................8
8.4 Data Collection and Analysis................................................................................................8
9. Timeline.......................................................................................................................................8
10. Reference...................................................................................................................................9

3USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
1. Background
The foremost determination of this research proposal is to focus on the different ways
which will be useful to achieve the concept of value engineering in the airport runways and the
highway pavements.
There are numerous considerations in the construction projects of airport runways and
highway pavements such as its Internal Load Factor (ILF) and flexibility of the payment designs
considering the thickness modulus ratio (Bertoni, Panarotto and Jonsson 2017). The gear
configurations are the other important aspect of the value engineering in the highway payments.
The application of the value engineering will be very much useful in the construction of the
pavements in airport runways and highway pavements. The application of the sustainable
material and the recycled materials and practices will be helping to reduce the cost of the projects
while providing same quality products. The cost of the staffs and the or over costs which is
associated with the sustainable or the recycled products are also less which will be useful for the
management team of the projects to control the funds as well. The development of the value
attitudes will be also compromised with the help of the value engineering practices in these
construction projects.
2. Research Significance
The changing needs and requirements of the consumers of the airport industry and
commuters of the highways is the main reasons behind the need for the modification of the
systems and designs. The usefulness of the construction materials such as recycled tyre rubber
and vegetable fibers can be very much useful for the construction of the pavements in both the

4USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
airport runways and highway pavements, this practice will be useful to minimize the cost of the
construction while delivering same quality services.
3. Research Aim
The aim of this paper is to provide support to the airport authorities and the regional
official which looks after the maintenance of the highways using the sustainable materials as it
provides the same quality with a much reduced cost. Numerous complexities of the above
discussed projects are expected to be highlighted from this paper.
4. Research Questions
4.1 Primary Research Question
 What are the technical difficulties commonly faced in the maintenance work of the
highways?
 How can flexible pavements be useful in the construction projects?
 What are the recyclable products used in the construction of pavements?
4.2 Secondary Research Questions
 Which category of payments are mostly suited in the airport runways?
 How the life cycle of the roads contribute in the value engineering?
 How the primary function of the road pavement can be changed in airport and highways?
5. Research Hypothesis
The hypothesis of this proposal is described in the following table.
Hypothesis Relation with the topic
Null hypothesis H0.0: There are no co-relation with the engineers

5USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
working in the construction projects with the
occurrence of the difficulties.
Null hypothesis H1.0: There is a positive co-relation and
significance with the between the engineers
and the consumers of the project.
Null hypothesis H0.1: There is no co-relation between the engineers
and occurrence of the difficulties.
Null hypothesis H2.0: There is a positive co-relation between the
engineers and the difficulties.
Table 1: Research hypothesis of the paper
(Source: Created by the author)
6. Literature Review
As stated by Park (2017), the concept of value engineering must be introduced in most of
the construction projects. The researcher of the paper discussed all the different categories of
pavements which can be used in the highways considering the amount of precipitation and other
important factors such as speed of the vehicles and repetition of the loads. However Miles
(2015), stated that the speed of the vehicles is the most important criteria in the selection of the
pavements, the researchers discussed the speed of the vehicles in both airports and highways, the
air pressure and the repetition of the loads of these two categories are completely different thus
effective planning has to be introduced so that the pavements are designed as required.

6USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
Figure 1: Vertical Tire Load with sound pressure level in pavement
(Source: Wao et al. 2016)
The most significant contribution of the paper is that it focuses on most of the technical
complexities which are faced by the civil engineers while designing the pavements for different
construction project.
As discussed by Cooper (2017), the Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD) can play a huge
role in the payment subgrade modulus, the soil texture and the business models followed in the
construction projects are the most impactors factors regarding the implementation of the new
pavement designs. The researcher stated about the value engineering techniques which can be
applied in these construction project so that the difficulties faced by commuters in terms of the
road accidents and disruption in the airport runways can be minimised.

7USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
Figure 2: Wheel load on pavement
(Source: Shaikh, Khahro, and Memon 2015)
The researcher also stated about the super imposed layer of the processing materials
which are used in the construction of the pavements. The researcher of the paper also stated
about the concrete mix design which is an important factors regarding the maintenance of the
costs factors for both highways as well as airport runways. The selection of the cementitious
systems, water-to-cementitious materials ratio, chemical admixtures should be carried our very
carefully according to the needs of the project. There is a need of adoption of recycling
technique of all the materials which are being used in these construction projects as stated the

8USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
researcher, as it will help to bring down the cost of the project. Two life concrete paving, load
transfer systems, health monitoring of the pavements should be falling under the category of the
recyclable groups as this practise will lead these projects to have a sustainable approach.
Figure 3: Measuring effectiveness of using sustainable materials
(Source: (Mancini et al. 2017)
The researcher of the paper also highlighted the importance of using sustainable materials
in these construction projects such as the use of the solar panels to neutralize the carbon impact
of modern construction projects. The descriptions of the required wheel load stress, coefficient of

9USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
friction, impervious surface are described in the paper. The researcher stated all the complexities
of the pavements such as the defection of the flexible pavements which should not be used in
these projects. The impact of the bituminous materials is also stated in the paper which makes
thus paper very much valuable in this proposal.
7.1 Research Gap
There are lots of third parties involved in these construction projects such as the suppliers
of the raw materials, design planners, testers, accountants and project managers which us the
main reason behind a possibility of research gap due to communication difficulties between the
above stated stakeholders. Corporate frauds is a possibility in these projects thus, the research
gaps have to be mitigated in the first place so that the desired results are obtained from this
project.
8. Research Methodology
8.1 Research Design
The exploratory and descriptive approach will be followed in this paper, as it includes
structured roles of all the stakeholders. The research philosophy which is applicable in this
research paper is the positivism as it will be compatible with the data collection procedure of this
paper.
8.2 Sampling
Non-probabilistic sampling method will be selected for the sampling method of this
paper. It will suit both the two type of data collection method which will be followed in this
paper.

10USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
8.3 Research process
Quantitative data collection procedure will be followed in this paper using two experts,
one from the construction department of the airport industry and the other from a local
contractor. The existing structure of the pavements will be analyzed and changes can be
recommended accordingly (Ahmed and Pandey 2016). All the stakeholders of the project should
be dedicatedly working with their respective work schedules so that the identified problems of
pavements are reduced.
8.4 Data Collection and Analysis
The paper will be considering both secondary and primary data collection procedure, the
primary data collection procedure will be from the experts as stated above and the secondary
data collection is from the peer reviewed scholarly article from reliable sources.
9. Timeline
Figure 2: Timeline for the proposal
(Source: Created by the author)

11USING AND OPTIMIZING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AT AIRPORT RUNWAY AND HIGHWAY PAVEMENT IN RESPECT TO COST FACTORS”
10. Reference
Ahmed, K.A.A. and Pandey, R.K., 2016. Concept of value engineering in construction industry.
International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), ISSN, pp.2319-7064.
Bertoni, M., Panarotto, M. and Jonsson, P., 2017. Value-driven engineering design: Lessons
learned from the road construction equipment industry. In ICED17 21st International
Conference on Engineering Design, Vancouver (Vol. 1, pp. 319-328). The Design Society.
Cooper, R., 2017. Target costing and value engineering. Routledge.
Mancini, M., Wang, X., Skitmore, M. and Issa, R., 2017. Editorial for IJPM special issue on
advances in building information modeling (BIM) for construction projects. International
Journal of Project Management, 35(4), pp.656-657.
Miles, L.D., 2015. Techniques of value analysis and engineering. Miles Value Foundation.
Park, R., 2017. Value engineering: a plan for invention. Routledge.
Shaikh, P., Khahro, S.H. and Memon, A.A., 2015. Adoption of value engineering: An attribute
study for construction industry of Pakistan. Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering
& Technology, 34(4), p.453.
Wao, J.O., Ries, R., Flood, I. and Kibert, C., 2016. Refocusing value engineering for sustainable
construction. In 52nd ASC Annual International Conference Proceedings (pp. 13-16).