Life Science Journal 2013;10(12s) http://www.lifesciencesite.com http://www.lifesciencesite.com lifesciencej@gmail.com 647 The Evaluation of Structural Performance of New Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad, Pakistan Muhammad Hussain 1 , Imran Hafeez 1 , M.A.Kamal 1 , Rana Faisal Tufail 1 , Muhammad Zahid 1 , Muhammad Abbas Qureshi 2 1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Taxila, Pakistan. 2. Department of Civil Engineering, Swedish College of Engineering & Technology, Taxila, Pakistan. hussainmuhammad42@yahoo.com Abstract: Sub grade strength, bitumen content of different structural layers and riding quality of wearing surface are the most important factors that affect the overall performance of pavement so it is necessary to evaluate the structural behavior and surface characteristics of pavement. The study reveals that runway of new Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad will behave under the heavy loading of aircrafts as per design requirements. This paper documents the Sub grade CBR tests, field density test, different layer’s soil classification, profilograph tests and skid resistance tests were performed to find out structural performance of main runway, secondary runway and taxiway and then compared with internationally design standards. From this research, it was concluded that new BBIAP is properly designed according to specifications. IRI values of main, secondary and taxiway are 1.54, 1.99 and 2.96 respectively which are well within internationally accepted values. Optimum asphalt content of bitumen wearing and bitumen base courses are 5.10% and 4.50% respectively when tested on different samples by extraction tests. Loss of stability in Bitumen wearing course and Bitumen Base course are 18% and 9% respectively. It was also concluded that the best Soil used in sub grade of any pavement is A-2-4 with 95% compaction achieved. Because A-2-4 soil can bear maximum load with respect to other groups soil, it is considered to be very effective while preparing sub grade in any runway pavement. From this research, it was also concluded that the factor of percentage of bitumen is dominating factor in the behavior of resilient modulus at a certain limit , as we increase the percentage of bitumen resilient modulus increases and vice versa. After a certain limit resilient modulus decreases by increasing bitumen content. [Hussain M, Hafeez I, Kamal.M.A, T. Faisal, Z. Muhammad, Q A Muhammad. The Evaluation of Structural Performance of New Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad, Pakistan. Life Sci J 2013;10(12s):647- 652] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com . 104 Keywords: Flexible pavements, Performance index, Runway, Profilograph test, International roughness index, structural performance, Civil Aviation Authority, 1. Introduction Pakistan is a developing country and spent a lot of money on different transportation projects. New Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad is an important example of one of these projects. Benazir Bhutto International airport (previously named as Islamabad International airport) is located in Islamabad serving approximately 2,885,700 passengers per year since a long time ago. An average of 23,400 flights per year has been entertained on the runway of BBIAP. Due to increase in congestion problems in previous BBIAP located in Islamabad, it becomes necessary to construct a new wide airport which replaces the previous one. The New Islamabad International Airport is located in Fatah Jang Tehsil of Attock District some 30 km southwest of the Federal Capital, is expected to be completed and operational by June 2014. This airport will eventually replace the overloaded Islamabad International Airport at Chaklala. The plan to construct a new airport for Islamabad was conceived in the late 1980s to deal with the with the problem of increased passenger load at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (then known as the Islamabad International Airport). The current annual turnover of passengers at the current airport is about 3.5 million. It was estimated that the number of passengers at the airport is growing by 14 per cent annually compared to national air passenger growth rate of less than four per cent, making it one of the busiest airports in the country. Therefore a site near Fateh jang, Attock District Pakistan was selected as the site for its construction. Finally the plan to construct a new airport was announced on January 7, 2005 by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). New Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad contains two runways. One is primary runway and 2nd is secondary/emergency runway. Secondary runway has the same length as primary runway but difference is design criteria. Figure 1 describes the cross-section of main runway. It also describes the lengths and widths of main runway. Main runway has a length 3657.60m (3.6Km), width 60m and consists of shoulder running along the main runway. The width of shoulder is 7.50m. So the area devoted by main runway is 219,456.00 m 2 .