New Stormwater Drainage System Replaces Aged, Undersized System At Dover Air Force Base

Commissioned by Versar, Inc., lead contractor for Dover Air Force Base’s $98.3M runway repair project, Oldcastle Precast supplied six hundred custom-made, precast concrete box culverts to rebuild the stormwater drainage system, at runway 01/19, to handled storm events effectively, through a larger, stronger stormwater conveyance system.

The aged, worn, and undersized drainage system, consisting of hundreds of feet of reinforced concrete pipe, allowing flow under the runways and taxiways, resulted in stormwater accumulation in and around the runway and entire airfield, during larger events. When a large amount of standing water is on the runway and an aircraft goes through it, it can move a large amount of water at a high rate of speed, affecting the aircraft and causing damage.

The new stormwater conveyance system is two “large” box culvert runs, each measuring 33-feet wide and over 2,500-feet in length; with the bottoms, over 20-feet below the surface of the runway. The drainage structure will capture and convey a greater volume of runway stormwater runoff during large events.

Oldcastle Precast of Telford, Pa. designed, engineered, manufactured, and shipped the six hundred reinforced box culvert segments, weighing roughly 60,000 pounds each, and lifted them into place by a tall crane. Manufactured monolithically, each precast concrete quad cell culvert measured about 33-feet in width, with the individual cells measuring 7-foot-6-inches by 6-foot. The Telford plant produced eight segments per day, for four months, to complete the project on schedule.

In addition, Oldcastle Precast supplied ten 8-foot long precast wing walls at headwall locations.

Before laying the concrete boxes, a level and sturdy base of dirt and stone needed to be set to make sure minimal shifting occurs during the lifetime of the culverts. Each section of the culvert was then placed, cinched, tarred, covered with dirt, and compacted to ensure storm water does not leak and is effectively drained off the airfield.

“This represents the largest stormwater drainage contract completed by the Telford, Pa. plant,” said Mike Grapsy, Regional General Manager for Oldcastle Precast. “Telford was uniquely qualified to deliver on a project of this scope.”

Dover Air Force Base’s runway repair project scope of work includes replacing the 1.8-mile long, north-south runway, 01-19, reconstructing the runway drainage systems, re-routing the fuel supply line, and replacing the medium voltage line.

Completion of the runway repair project is scheduled for June 2016.

Dover AFB, serving the Air Force for over 60 years, is the largest military aerial port in the world, servicing our warfighters world-wide, but particularly our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dover is home to the 436th Airlift Wing with its 3rd Airlift Squadron’s C17 Globemaster IIIs and the 9th Airlift Squadron’s C5 Galaxy aircraft providing a significant amount of the United States’ out-sized airlift capability. Additionally, Dover is home to the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs, the point of return for our fallen warriors.

About Oldcastle Precast:
Oldcastle Precast is the clear choice for building products and services for North American Infrastructure projects. The company is a leading provider of engineered product solutions nationwide to a number of market sectors including: Building Structures – Communications – Government/Military, Power & Energy - Security - Transportation – Water, Construction Services – Engineering Support – LEED/Green Consulting. For more information, visit http://www.oldcastleprecast.com/.