Philadelphia International Airport Project Reuses Dredged Material and Saves City $5 Million

As part of runway expansion at the Philadelphia International Airport, the City of Philadelphia and the Department of Aviation planned to construct a 5,000-ft commuter runway east of the airport at the abandoned Enterprise Avenue Landfill site, a former Superfund site.

The proposed runway site presented several significant  environmental challenges. One of these challenges was constructing the runway to a height that would allow aircraft to safely clear structures at the nearby Philadelphia Navy Yard. WESTON saved the City of Philadelphia approximately $5 million by using 1 million cubic yards of clean sediment dredged from the Delaware River to construct the runway to the proper height.  By doing this, WESTON also reduced the amount of material that would need to be dredged from the river as part of a future deepening project.

WESTON also designed and installed a 26-ft-high embankment and an additional 20-ft-high surcharge pile to accelerate the compression of soft clays and reduce the natural consolidation of site soils from 9 years to 2 years, minimizing post-paving settlement. As a result, the runway was operating by the year 2000. WESTON’s scope included detailed design of the embankment/surcharge pile, inspection of dredged material placement, and review of sediment physical and chemical data.

WESTON's activities for this project were completed on time and within budget and to the satisfaction of federal and state regulators. The Airport expansion project provides the City of Philadelphia, through the Division of Aviation, an annual net operating cost reduction of over $50 million in the first year alone. In addition, the City will realize a 23% annual return on investment, allowing the amortization of over $220 million in capital project costs in less than 5 years.