Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Runway 17R-35L

In mid-October, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) completed the full reconstruction of Runway 17R-35L. The 14-month initiative included a high-density asphalt overlay for the entire 13,400-foot surface, as well as drainage improvements, LED lighting, signage and deicing infrastructure.

The $257 million project was the third complete runway rehabilitation at DFW since 2017 and was part of the airport’s $9 billion Capital Improvement Plan. Originally constructed in 1974, Runway 17R-35L is one of seven at DFW and handles fully 50% of the busy airport’s departures, making it crucial to everyday operations. While there had been improvements to 17R-35L over the years, this was its first major rehabilitation.

DFW received a $45 million Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Infrastructure Grant under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to assist in funding the $257 million investment. Our team provided the design for rehabilitation project.

Collective Innovation

In 2018, DFW’s engineering evaluation process and condition assessments determined that the aging runway would need a full rehabilitation within five years. Planning for the comprehensive project began in early 2022, including development of the phasing approach that proved to be so pivotal.

Because Runway 17R-35L is such a crucial piece of DFW, it was imperative for all stakeholders to be represented during planning to ensure safe, secure and timely delivery. Extensive coordination was needed with the airlines, FAA and airfield operations to come up with the most efficient design and phasing to minimize operational impacts.

At 13,400 feet long and 200 feet wide, Runway 17R-35L is not only one of DFW’s widest runways, it is also the primary departure option on the east side of the airfield. As such, it was important for the project team to maintain accessibility to end-around taxiways on both the north and south ends of it—as well as connectors in the middle—throughout construction.

Design, planning and detailed sequencing of the complex project took about a year. Initially, the design team planned to divide work among three phases to support ongoing airline operations. The northern and southern thresholds would be replaced separately, keeping the middle of the runway open.

Instead of three phases, the project was reduced to just two. Preliminary work was completed on one of the thresholds, and then DFW fully closed Runway 17R-35L in August 2023 after the busy summer travel season ended.

In just nine months, crews completed a full asphalt overlay on about two-thirds of the runway’s total length. They finished one week ahead of schedule and just in time to allow 17R-35L to reopen in a shortened configuration of 9,275 feet for the next summer uptick. This 9,275-foot length allowed 90% of DFW’s fleet mix to use the key departure runway during the busy summer travel season while work continued on the remaining southern one-third of the pavement. The entire newly resurfaced runway reopened on Oct. 11, 2024.

Future maintenance was also a key consideration, which is why the airport opted for a hybrid of high-density asphalt over concrete in lieu of a concrete surface for the project.

With a high-density mix asphalt overlay rather than full concrete, the repair cycle becomes much easier and less impactful to operations. This is a tested approach for the airport, as the first asphalt runway at DFW was completed in 2018, and that asphalt surface is outlasting its expected five-to seven-year lifespan.

In addition to resurfacing 17R-35L, DFW installed a new lighting vault to power the east airfield. At 50 years old, the original lighting vault was also due for rehabilitation, so the airport scheduled it concurrently.

Challenges and Triumphs

The project team used concrete maturity meters to help move the runway work along at an aggressive pace. Crew members placed meters into the concrete, about 4 inches from the top, to help determine when pavement was ready for subsequent work. The tools provided real-time information about concrete temperature and strain on the sensors, which are indicators of concrete strength.

In addition to an ambitious timeline, team members faced other challenges, including supply chain issues and volatile material prices. An industry-wide fly ash shortage inspired the contractor and designer to work together to develop an alternative mix design that helped avoid schedule delays.

A keen awareness of other projects, especially the lighting vault, was also important to minimizing impacts on airline schedules at the busy airport. Understanding how our project fits into the overall program at DFW was extremely important. During design and construction, teams coordinated extensively to ensure that projects were not impeding each other.

Environmental Considerations

Recycling old concrete removed from the runway keel fit with DFW’s system-wide commitment to sustainability. Thanks to its East Materials Management Site, 330,000 cubic yards of crushed concrete was processed on-site for re-use in various airport projects, including in the new subbase for the shoulders on Runway 17R-35L.

Bringing in new material involved significant cost and negative environmental effects. Knowing DFW is a carbon-neutral airport, we considered various materials in our pavement design to make sure that we were meeting the airport’s objectives of sustainability.

All runway lights were replaced with energy-saving LED fixtures.

Committed to Safety

As a result of a heightened awareness of safety by the contractors, the fast-tracked project was completed in about 350,000 work hours without any reportable safety accidents.

Digital Asset Management

Since 2013, every project at DFW has included building information modeling that subsequently feeds information into the airport’s 3D digital twin.

We completed the first 3D civil building information model (BIM) that will be integrated into DFW’s digital twin. Such tools can streamline construction, improve coordination and minimize operational impacts.

Data from DFW’s digital model was fed into a visualization tool dashboard to track assets and monitor as-built progress and contractor compliance with DFW’s Digital Facilities and Infrastructure Standards Manual and the approved BIM Execution Plan.

All that information is being tapped to help plan maintenance, predict asset replacement and estimate lifecycle costs. The data becomes even more valuable when it can be displayed in real-world context and queried in a 3D environment.

DFW is a leader in asset management modeling and the use of digital twins.

It Worked!

Key project partners agree that the strategic phasing could not have been achieved without a close working relationship among all stakeholders.

Not only did the project prove to be minimally disruptive to operations, but DFW was able to maintain the growth it projected for the year.

The next runway that will be reconstructed at DFW is 18L-36R. In December 2024, that project was currently in design and anticipated to begin construction in about 18 months. It is yet another element in the airport’s $9 billion Capital Improvement Plan that includes more than 180 major upgrades, expansions and new facilities across the airfield, terminals and roadways.

Recent and future runway rehabilitations, combined with other airfield improvements, will provide DFW flexibility and efficiency to continue meeting air travel demands and eventually serve 100 million annual passengers.

A version of this article and associated images were originally published in the January-February 2025 issue of Airport Improvement magazine.