Airport Solutions

By: Kim Paggioli

The first installation of HOBAS pipe at DFW Intl. Airport was a repair to an 84-in. corrugated steel culvert that had failed and created a sinkhole approximately 30 ft deep and almost 20 ft in diameter after a series of heavy rains in 2007. North Texas Contracting of Keller, Texas, won the public bid for and successfully completed the repair, using a 20-ft section of HOBAS centrifugal cast, fiberglass reinforced, polymer mortar (CCFRPM) pipe.

That project proved so successful that HOBAS pipe was specified on a $9 million DFW Hangar Drainage Modifications project, currently underway at DFW Airport. In order to prevent water contaminated from airplane service and washings from directly entering the public wastewater system, North Texas Contracting was contracted to install a 13,000-ft system of pipe along with oil/water separators and two retention ponds in hangar areas. Of that amount, 7,600 ft is HOBAS CCFRPM pipe.

The system was designed jointly by the Dallas office of CH2M Hill and A.N.A. Consultants of Fort Worth. Because CCFRPM pipe is non-porous and due to the availability of special nitrile gaskets—which are more resistant to jet fuel and chemicals of the sort used in airplane maintenance—this seemed to be the perfect application. Airport guidelines also required that the system be watertight, according to Travis Attanasio, P.E., design engineer with A.N.A. Consultants.

The new system is being installed alongside the hangars. The outflow line then makes a turn toward the retention pond. The ponds add a second layer of safety in event of an oil leak, accidental fuel discharge, or AFFF fire suppression release, keeping any contaminants out of the Trinity River Authority wastewater system.

“We have to saw through the reinforced concrete apron, which ranges in thickness from 5 in. around the private hangars to 18 in. around the American Airlines hangars,” said Hodsdon. “Steel reinforcement is mostly #5 and #3 rebar with 1-1/4 inch dowels at the joints.” The contractor then excavates from 26 ft at pond to 6 ft deep at the farthest end to install the gravity fed lines.

“The east side of the airport has one hangar with an older oil/water separator already in place,” said Hodsdon. “We’ve tied into that separator and the existing line and laid new 54-, 36-, and 18-in. piping to a water retention pond. If there is an emergency, they can divert the flow from the old separator to the lined open retention pond. At that point they can let it sit and evaporate, then come in and vacuum out any residue.

The west side is more challenging, according to Hodsdon. A lined pond was created in the low point between the two hangar groups. From the pond, the contractor is laying 54-, 36-, and 18-in. pipe to the American Airlines, American Eagle and two private hangars. It is a closed water system with each hangar having its own tie-in to the line. Anything that drains into the floor drains on a daily basis will flow into the new lines and the oil/water separators. In the event of an emergency that would prompt a foam discharge, the system would automatically divert the flow into the lined retention pond and keep the liquid from going through the oil/water separator.

“One of the biggest challenges we have to face is the planes themselves,” Hodsdon said. “American Airlines could not afford to have any downtime in their hangars. CT&S Inc. of Irving, Texas, designed and fabricated a set of trench plates that would span our 6-ft wide trenches. The plates were engineered to support the 125-ton weight of a fully loaded 777, so the planes would always have access to the hangars. The plates are 1-1/4 in. thick steel. Welded underneath to add rigidity to the plates are nine W-beams about 10 in. tall.”

As the pipe is positioned and joined, the trench is backfilled with crushed concrete and native backfill, and capped with an 18-in. thick 1,500 psi flowable fill grout mix. This extra reinforcement eliminates the potential for settlement below the apron pavement, which is then reconstructed with 5,500 psi paving mix.

The contractor is laying the line in sections, paying particular attention to the areas in front of the hangar doors to minimize the time that planes must use the trench plates. “We’ve developed this train process to keep everything moving,” said Hodsdon.

HOBAS Pipe USA, Inc.
1413 Richey Road
Houston, TX 77073
www.hobaspipe.com
281.821.2200