UTILISATION OF FLY ASH IN STRUCTURE LAYERS OF THE MÄNTTÄ AERODROME RUNWAY FOR SMALL AIRPLANES

Next to the town of Mänttä-Vilppula in northern Pirkanmaa district in Finland, is located an old industrial area, which includes a short runway for small airplanes. Aerodrome has been constructed in 1970’s and now the... [ view full abstract ]

Next to the town of Mänttä-Vilppula in northern Pirkanmaa district in Finland, is located an old industrial area, which includes a short runway for small airplanes. Aerodrome has been constructed in 1970’s and now the structure needs to be repaired. The current owner of the area is the town of Mänttä-Vilppula. There are broad-minded ideas to regenerate the area into the aviation purposes including an air park area (website in Finnish: www.sassiin.fi). The air park will consist of separate areas for private housing where plots are connected to the aerodrome via taxiways. Some of the plots will have an own coastline.

There are active industrial plants nearby, such as a paper mill and a power plant. Utilisation of the waste from these (mainly fly ash) is an interesting opportunity in this construction project. This would include the repair of the old runway and the construction of new taxiways. The construction types would be: A) a massive fly ash construction to decrease the frost heave of the structure and B) base course stabilisation to improve the bearing capacity using fly ash as a binder. Realisation of the project brings these types of structures into the practise for the first time in Finland. Reuse of alternative material from industry will generate an eco-efficient and economical fame for the whole aerodrome area.