Cement is delivered by tanker trucks. It takes seven tankers to fill the storage tank ("pig") on site. When cement is transferred from the pig to a spreader truck, bag-type filters catch the cement dust that would otherwise escape as air is displaced in the spreader's hopper by the incoming cement. This is to minimize dust. A spreader truck holds 12 ^1/2 tons of cement and covers 555 square yards in a 625-foot pull.

After the dry passes comes a wet pass. As with the cement, water distribution is tightly controlled. A typical range is 850 to 1,800 liters per minute. Moisture content of the finished mixture is to be 18 percent. Slurry uses Dickey-John moisture meters to calibrate spread rates based on ambient soil moisture content.

As soon as the water hits the ground, the clock starts running. Compaction must begin within an hour of when water is applied. Slurry makes up to five passes with a padfoot drum and two passes with a smooth drum roller. All passes are in vibratory mode except for the final. Compaction is checked with a nuclear ("nuke") gauge. Once compaction is done, the motor graders come on and finish the job. Grading must be completed within three hours of when the water goes down.

At that point, Slurry Pavers is done. Next a bituminous tack coat is sprayed over their work and allowed to cure for five to seven days. Then comes a 6-inch layer of cement-treated base (CTB, also called cement-treated aggregate, or CTA). On top of the CTB comes 15 to17 inches of concrete. The concrete is mixed at a batch plant on site and hauled to the runway in dump trucks. No mesh or rebar is typically used to reinforce the concrete paving. Dowels are placed automatically where there will be transverse saw cuts for stress relief in the surface of the runway. Dowels are also placed at the edges where adjacent, consecutive pours butt together. The surface is bull-floated by hand before being swept with wet burlap. The final step will be to cut grooves the length of the runway.

Growth 101: Work Hard, Get Help
Slurry Paving began working at Dulles in October 2006 and will be substantially finished with their work in October 2007. They'll be back briefly in 2008 to stabilize backfill placed over the tunnel providing transportation from the runway to the existing airfield.