ACRP IdeaHub Research Projects

The 2,455 General Aviation Airports in the U.S. provide essential services that are uniquely available through this type of airport. A Resilience Management Plan, although expensive to contract and complicated to create, may be critical to protecting the continuity of these services. This research project provides operators with the tools necessary to effectively and efficiently develop their own Resilience Management ...more »

Conduct a survey of ramp/apron markings currently being used on US Airports and develop an apron/Ramp paint marking manual to establish common marking standards for ramp/aprons

Determine uniform certification standards in DBE/ACDEBE certification programs between airports and other local entities to ensure a smooth process and better understanding of the requirements.

New technologies continue to arise regarding the ability to coordinate for the shared use of smaller business aircraft, in turn creating increasing pressure to provide such services to the general public, in turn creating significant conflicts between just what is – and what is not – permitted under 14 C.F.R. Part 91. Additionally, eVTOL aircraft are rapidly under development and moving to the demonstration stage, creating ...more »

Current methods of assessing the condition of airport pavement and infrastructure typically require restricting access or use, closing, and/or using expensive assessment methods or tools. Technology integrated into most mobile phones (gyroscopes, accelerometers, cameras, etc.) can be used to automatically collect and wirelessly transmit infrastructure-related data to a central database providing real-time tracking of ...more »

New construction and renovation projects at airports experience cost and schedule constraints due to the unique operational aspects and differing facility types. For example, apron expansions must give heed to airside operations and terminal renovations of retail space must often take place overnight when passenger traffic in minimal. This research will investigate state of the art techniques to enhance construction sequencing ...more »

In this case study we consider kinetic energy model to modify calculations of all types of required distances and included type of airfield pavement, four cases of aircraft loads on the runway during landing and take-off operations, interaction model formulation and resistance of rolling wheels. Special attention paid to the foreign structures and devices incorporated into the pavement structural layers. All devices and ...more »

Airport Emergency Plan requirements do not fully recognize the impact on airport employees and business partners in times of disasters or emergency events. Lessons can be learned from aviation organizations such as Jet Blue who have models for anticipating employee and business partners family needs for emergency support. Essential employees need support for their families in order to assist the airport and community ...more »

A research project that would allow across the board runway length determination analysis.

Our team aims to architecturally and financially model new ways to relieve airport congestion through the expansion of the curbside, while also allowing for new programs to monetize the landside and the airside. Our team intends to develop architectural solutions for modifying airport parking garages, providing ride share lobbies and amenities, re-programming parking garages and surface lots for alternative uses, and ...more »

Development of a microgrid standard framework (Technical, Financial, Regulatory, Permitting) solution which can apply to all airports across the country. Due to the complexity of the airports' operation and numbers of stakeholders and decision-makers, this comprehensive solution has not been developed.

In 2010, the ACRP published Report 30: Reference Guide on Understanding Common Use at Airports. Since that time, the airport strategies for implementation of common use and the technological solutions have significantly changed. Today, there is a greater focus on the "seamless passenger journey", providing new common use options, introducing technology innovations, and adapting to new business models. The research proposed ...more »

Airside infrastructure maintenance requirements are typically defined using passive sensors that detect surface phenomena only, or using devices that require slow or stationary equipment which affect capacity & delay and may even require NOTAM closures for in-depth evaluations. A need exists to streamline the evaluation process to provide real time input to aircraft operations and progressive infrastructure maintenance ...more »

Concrete overlays are a growing trend in pavement maintenance and rehabilitation. Rapid-setting concrete overlays offer the potential or reopening aprons, taxiways and runways quickly. The viability and durability of rapid setting concrete overlays over asphalt or concrete airfield pavement should be evaluated and tested in order to provide airports and consultants with suitable practice guidelines.

Baggage Handling Systems (BHS) are critical pieces of infrastructure at every airport. They are large, complex, and costly to operate, and their lack of performance can have massive impacts on airport, airlines, and passengers. The research aims to provide airport stakeholders with a set of tools to make the best, transparent decisions regarding their BHS from a total cost of ownership perspective. Expanding on current ...more »