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By going from five compactors to four, Northstar Materials lowered fuel and operator costs while more efficiently achieving the required results.

With the right equipment, the compactor operators keep a close eye on ambient conditions during paving. "With a mix as touchy as this, if the weather changes, we usually have to change rolling patterns. If it cools down or if the sun goes behind the clouds, all those things affect the rolling patterns," says Ganske.

Paving the runway took two weeks. Northstar Materials was paving 75 feet wide and 3,000 feet long. An Ingersoll Rand PF-5510 paver laid the asphalt. "We paved 225 tons an hour," says Ganske. "That's good for an airport job. It's not as much as we do on a highway, but the consistency on an airport job is so much higher because of the PWL that it takes more time to lay down the asphalt."

A unique safety concern on the job was the cross runway that remained open to air traffic. Northstar Materials had to stay 250 feet clear of the operating runway at all times. A member of the crew had an airport radio for communication with air traffic control.

Because the other runway needed to remain open, the Bemidji Regional Airport originally wanted work on the runway reconstruction to take place at night. "We were able to work closely with the airport schedule to complete paving during the day," says Ganske. "If there were four hours between planes, we adjusted our schedule and worked on other things to stay away from the open runway."