Netherlands-based NACO Launches Digital Airport Pavement Management Solution

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 10, Netherlands-based airport consulting and engineering firm NACO introduced its airport pavement dynamic management tool ADAPT, which integrates structural conditions, usage intensity, deterioration trends and maintenance budgets of runways, taxiways and aprons to establish a continuously updated digital maintenance management process, providing a basis for airports to determine maintenance sequencing, intervention timing and infrastructure investment plans.

Traditional airport pavement management mainly relies on periodic inspections and phased assessments. Engineers predict facility deterioration based on pavement cracks, deformation, structural load-bearing capacity and historical maintenance records, and then formulate annual maintenance and rehabilitation plans. However, airport operational intensity, aircraft takeoff and landing frequency, climatic conditions and localized traffic loads continue to change, and existing inspection results may not fully reflect subsequent pavement conditions.

ADAPT integrates engineering inspection data with airport operational information, maintenance requirements and funding arrangements into a unified workflow. The system can record inspection results for different pavement areas, track defects and deterioration changes, and predict subsequent pavement conditions by combining the operational importance and usage of each area. Through spatial analysis, it can also identify areas within the airport pavement network that require priority attention, providing a basis for developing zoned maintenance plans.

ADAPT links the maintenance needs of individual pavement sections with specific intervention measures, priorities, estimated implementation timing and funding requirements. Airport managers can compare the implementation timing and funding arrangements of different maintenance options based on the operational importance of runways, taxiways and aprons, and determine priority construction areas within limited budgets.

The tool also supports continuous updating of management strategies. When an airport completes new pavement inspections, or when operational conditions or usage intensity change, the relevant data can be re-entered into the analysis to adjust the original deterioration predictions and maintenance arrangements. Unlike one-off inspection reports, this process extends pavement management to continuous monitoring, prediction and maintenance plan adjustment.

NACO states that ADAPT can adjust its implementation depth according to different airports' existing inspection data, management resources and asset management maturity, without requiring all airports to adopt an identical data system. The tool is primarily aimed at airport engineering and facility management personnel, helping them coordinate the relationship between pavement conditions, operational constraints and maintenance funding.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's current airport pavement management guidelines likewise emphasize developing maintenance and rehabilitation plans through pavement inspections, historical maintenance records and performance prediction. ADAPT further incorporates airport operational importance, dynamic deterioration information and financial requirements into a unified management process.