Abstract
Airport pavements are subjected to high-impact loads, and conventional design wisdom prescribes pavement thicknesses utilizing the lowest modulus obtainable for subgrade soil over a given wet-dry cycle. This is due to variations in strain, stress, deformation, and reduction in strength when subjected to moisture changes. By engineering water repellency in pavement soils, moisture conditions can be kept fairly uniform, allowing for easier design, reducing speculation of performance, and saving material and construction costs. Temperature and water content measurements were obtained from soil obtained from the Charlotte Douglas International Airport treated with organosilane and compared with untreated soil under varying moisture conditions. Results show a reduction in moisture content as well as variations in the treated soil sample compared to the untreated sample. Samples were exposed to two winter storm events, and a maximum heave of similar to 6 mm was measured for the untreated soil, while the treated soil sample did not heave.