Heavy Weight Deflectometer Ensures Safety at Nuuk International Airport

IN-SITU Consult and Niras performs pavement measurement on the 2,200 Meter runway at Nuuk Airport.

A New Era for Greenland has Begun!

Nuuk International Airport Opens
Nuuk International Airport with a 2,200-meter (7200 ft) runway, taxiway officially opened in the end of November 2024 for domestic and international travel.

For the first time, direct flights to Copenhagen, Denmark, are now available.

Nuuk Airport will enhance accessibility for various industries, investors, tourists, and explorers.

Ensuring Runway Safety and Efficiency
To ensure safe and efficient runway operations Greenland Airports commissioned the Danish company IN-SITU Consult to undertake essential structural evaluations of all airside pavement at the airport.

IN-SITU Consult conducted rigorous pavement testing to verify the runway’s readiness to handle heavier and increasing airplane traffic over the coming years.

Advanced Pavement Testing
The foundation of this pavement assessment was performed using a Dynatest, Heavy Weight Deflectometer (HWD).

These pavement evaluations provide a detailed analysis of the pavement’s elasticity and load-bearing capacity, enabling proactive adjustments that ensure the runway meets both current and future aviation demands.

Transition to new ICAO Standards
The official opening of Nuuk Airport was the 28th November 2024 and coincidently the date also marked the official change from the old ACN/PCN Pavement Classification indexing to the new Internation Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) ACR/PCR classification standard.

ACR/PCR classification
The bigger improvement to the updated ACR/PCR Aircraft and Pavement Classification Rating is the implementation of applied layered elastic analysis to estimate pavement bearing capacity. The measurement and collection of data for the layer moduli analysis is the core performance of the Dynatest software ELMOD.

Runway Pavement Data Collection
The runway’s pavement structural data was collected with a Dynatest 8082 HWD (Heavy Weight Deflectometer). The HWD can apply a loading in the range of 30-320kN, enabling the HWD to simulate vehicle loading up to the most extreme aircraft wheel loads.

Precision in Analysis
Niras one of Scandinavia’s leading consulting engineering companies performed precise pavement analysis calculations from the data collected from the Dynatest HWD. These metrics are crucial for assessing the runway’s capacity to accommodate different aircraft, which affects maintenance protocols and operational planning now and in the future.

Great cooperation
The synergy between Dynatest’s advanced pavement testing equipment and software to evaluate pavement data and Niras pavement analysis and IN-SITU Consult’s measurements affirms the readiness of Nuuk’s new airport to uphold international aviation standards.

With the opening of Nuuk Airport, Greenland is set to expand its global footprint, and a new era for Greenland has begun.

Our partnership with IN-SITU Consult underscores the journey we embarked on five years ago, dedicated to developing and delivering world-class pavement testing equipment and software. By combining IN-SITU Consult’s specialized consultancy expertise with our Dynatest Heavy Weight Deflectometer we have achieved significant improvements in operational safety at Nuuk Airport while optimizing cost efficiency. This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to advancing infrastructure readiness and addressing the evolving demands of global aviation,” said Jesper Rantala, CEO of Dynatest.

CEO, DynatestJesper Rantala

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Our HWD system is crafted for high-accuracy deflection measurements, empowering asset management, design, and rehabilitation strategies. As ACR/PCR standards evolve, our technology elevates pavement assessment, providing actionable data for critical infrastructure.

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