Understanding that pavements settle with time and traffic, APR wanted to create a process to track those changes and correct small problems before they become BIGGER problems.  APR’s Auto Rod and Level profiler is the most practical method available to help you track your pavement’s profile.  Measuring your runway’s profile every three to five years will provide your pavement management program with the data you need to make intelligent decisions.  You won’t see these changes using traditional pavement evaluation techniques.

Once measured, APR can use the measured data to quantify the changes that have occurred between measurements.

On the left are two charts of a runway that has a fairly active sub-grade. One plot shows two profiles of the same runway measured with the Auto Rod and Level.  The top portion of the plot is the baseline profile measured right after construction, and the bottom portion of the plot is the same line of survey measured six years later.  Because it has an active sub-grade, this airport chooses to measure their runway profile every year.

The second chart illustrates how APR can use the measured profile data to identify deviations from a very long straightedge and compare those deviations to that of the baseline profile (green) followed by the deviations identified for year 7 (red) and those of year 8 (blue).  This process allows APR to measure the changes from year to year and predict when repairs may be necessary.