Airport Runway and Road Surface Treatments, Marking Removal and Friction Testing

Within the last months RCS Contracting could convince the US-Air Force (USAF) of their demarking and runway cleaning service. On the bases in Germany, Qatar and Kuwait RCS did a job to the complete satisfaction of the responsible persons.

Spangdahlem Air Base
Spangdahlem Air Base is a United States Air Force base located near the small German town of Spangdahlem, near the city of Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is one of three main operating bases in Germany. That means that it is one of the largest military bases outside of the United States. There are about 5000 Americans who work and live there sometimes even with their family (plus 7000 family members). The 52nd Fighter Wing which is based there is Europe’s largest and versatile formation of the USAF.

On the 3050 m long and 45 m wide runway we “accomplished” our “mission”. RCS Contracting removed rubber on 40,000 m² of asphalt and demarked 2,000 m² of lines. The job had to be done over the weekend for not disturbing the air traffic. RCS is able to work at every time to meet the customer needs – even at night. After some routine security checks we started Friday about 19 o’clock right after the last landing. By means of three ARC 1000 and five drivers the work could be finished just one day later on Saturday evening. Thus the three vehicles ran parallel and the drivers worked in two shifts. Overnight and on Saturday we could reduce the number of vehicles on two. Of course this assignment required a strong organization but on the one hand we have routine and on the other hand the friendly and helpful US staff. On Sunday we just had some friction tests whereby we also checked our work. Later than we left satisfied responsible of the USAF and could finish one day before the stipulated time.

 

Al-Udeid Air Base
Two month before Spangdahlem in August 2010 we had literally one of our hottest jobs. Surrounded by the desert with temperatures of about 40-48°C the RCS team worked competent on the Al-Udeid Air Base.

Al-Udeid is located about 30 km southwest of Doha which is the capital of Qatar. The base is strategically important for operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan. It is home to several international military units but especially to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing the largest, most diverse expeditionary wing in the US Air Force. With a length of 3750 m it has the longest runway in the region and can accommodate up to 120 aircrafts. Several thousand soldiers are stationed there.

RCS cleaned 70.000 m² of the asphalt runway from tyre rub off. This time we had to be more flexible because we just had time slots of three hours. So the two drivers had to distribute their work over approx. two weeks. But in the end RCS Contracting copes with any condition to satisfy the customer.

Ali Al Salem Air Base
Ali Al Salem Air Base is a military air base situated in Kuwait, approximately 23 miles from the Iraqi border. The airfield is owned by the Government of Kuwait, and during Operation Southern Watch and Operation Telic / Operation Iraqi Freedom hosted Royal Air Force (RAF), United States Air Force (USAF) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) personnel and aircraft. Since those operations, the base has been returned to the control of the Kuwaiti Government, with the USAF continuing to maintain a presence alongside their Kuwait Air Force counterparts. The principal USAF unit on base is the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing (386 AEW).

The air base has two asphalt/concrete runways: one measuring 2,989 by 45 metres (9,806 × 148 ft) and the other measuring 2,989 by 40 metres (9,806 × 131 ft). In April 2011 RCS Contracting cleaned 27,000 m² of the asphalt runway from tyre rub off and removed 9,000 m² of paint markings. After two weeks the job has been completed and again we left satisfied those responsible of the USAF receiving much praise.