The Blastrac 2-4800 DH - Blastrac Global's (blastrac.com) largest piece of shot blasting equipment - has improved the macrotexture and microtexture of airport runways, improving surface drainage and the ability for large aircraft to stop safely and quickly.

Modern runways must be capable of safely landing heavy turbo jet aircraft that approach runways at high speeds. When rubber and other contaminates build up on airport runways, hydroplaning or loss of traction can occur.
The 2-4800 DH successfully removes these unwanted contaminates by shot blasting - an environmentally friendly practice because the process doesn't employ water, chemicals or solvents to complete the retexturing and cleaning process.

With the use of a high volume, high suction vacuum system, the 2-4800 DH collects the blast media and loose contamination from the runways, separates the contaminates from the blast media and recycles the media for repetitive use. The contaminates are collected in the machine's hopper and can also be recycled at a later time.

Runways should be evaluated with friction measuring equipment based on the levels of daily use. For instance, when average texture depth of the runway measures below 0.030 inch but above .016 inch, airport operators should schedule texturing within a year. If the average texture depth measures below 0.010, operators should schedule texturing within two months. The 2-4800 DH retexturing successfully improves the average macrotexture depth to a minimum 0.060 inches.

Throughout the past months, the 2-4800 DH successfully completed the retexturing of one runway at Easterwood Field in College Station, Texas, as well as a 240,000-square-foot runway at Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. These jobs are just two of dozens of successfully completed projects globally on runways in 2006.

"The Federal Aviation Administration imposes much more strict guidelines on airport retexturing than other projects the 2-4800 DH previously completed," Matt Shorrock, Blastrac wheel blast product manager, said.
"But the 2-4800 DH was successful and improved skid resistance values above new surface conditions for airport runways, thus rehabilitating the surface course and extending its useful life."

Competitive companies were skeptical that the Blastrac 2-4800 DH could retexture airport runways, but the Calgary and College Station projects proved that this machine can successfully complete airport retexturing projects. The 2-4800 DH is joining the market of airport retexturing and maintenance equipment previously held by U.S. competitors of Blastrac, Shorrock said.

Dino Tittarelli, president and owner of Tittarelli Inc., completed the Calgary airport runway project of 240,000 square feet within 15 hours, during three, five-hour nights of labor. He said the job was completed successfully with the 2-4800 DH, and he predicts that more airports will purchase this machine to complete the resurfacing projects within their own maintenance departments.

"The (2-4800 DH) is operator friendly and convenient for every application from large macrotexturing jobs to small bridges that need recoating," Tittarelli said.

The Blastrac 2-4800DH Shot Blasting System is designed for preparation of large concrete and steel surfaces such as highways, airport runways, bridge decks and ship decks.

With a travel speed of 0-350 feet per minute and a 48-inch blast pattern, this machine strips, cleans and profiles up to 30,000 square feet of concrete, 40,000 of asphalt or 7,500 of steel per hour. The machine's blast head adjusts side-to-side to allow blasting close to obstructions on either side of the machine giving the operator flexibility in tight areas and single lane closures.

The 2-4800DH is powered by a 350-horsepower diesel engine, and uses twin centrifugal blast wheels to propel blast media in a controlled pattern and direction. Media is recycled for reuse, while an onboard 3,500 CFM dust collector gathers dust and debris.