WW2 airfields concrete or tarmac?

Nuthampstead had tarmac laid over concrete. The early surface had wood shavings in the tarmac (!?!?) and the P-38’s Allison’s sucked it up into the radiator housings.

According to a pilot the tarmac was very slippery.

Shabbyabbey
www.55th.org
www.station131.co.uk

I thiought the asphalt surface was laid due to its flexibility and grip.
Runway camoflaging was in use at the time.

My understanding was that bituminous toppings were applied because they were more flexible and less prone to dusting or cracking, which was happening with the concrete runways in the harsh winters being encountered back then.

RAF Hunsdon peritrack and Runway remains shows its original asphalt topping in places. This also closed in 1945-6.
I cannot remember seeing an asphalt cap on the nearby former USAAF airfield of Matching, Essex. Was the asphalt cap a means of dulling down the bright concrete against enemy photo-recon in the early part of the war. A practice that didnt really matter too much in 1943-44 with the threat of an invasion over?

I can’t remember the point of reference, but I seem to remember that Andrewsfield had this form of “concrete”, and that because of the unlimited amount of mud, when a dip was encountered, the machine just filled the hole with the “mix”, and carried on; subsequent (postwar) excavation of the runway brought this to light.

The original runway of RAF Lakenheath is still in good nick underneath the newer tarmac (listed as a Porous Friction Surface) surfaces. The USAF extensions of 1950’s and 60’s isn’t though. The combined rating for those pieces is less than the rating for the WWII!!!
Just thought you’d like to know.

A sad day – posting pictures of wartime era drains from RAF Winthorpe! 😮 😮

You need to pop along to AIX!
Seriously it’s all fascinating stuff and a seldom thought of our defences

A sad day – posting pictures of wartime era drains from RAF Winthorpe! 😮 😮

Cross section of the runway at Martlesham Heath;
http://airfields.fotopic.net/p45260001.html

Jeez! laid on a bed of dried leaves! Mind you I’ve had posh dinners like that!

Cross section of the runway at Martlesham Heath;
http://airfields.fotopic.net/p45260001.html

Individual sites are likely to vary due to local conditions.

At Winthorpe some of the runway edges are thicker than at the centre, but this is often due to the drainage provision and occasional culverting of local water courses.

There is one drainage manhole on part of the museum land, adjacent to one of the former runways that is brick built and at least six feet deep; and water run off still flows through.

I’m pretty sure that what T’wotter has posted is fairly standard for RAF UK airfields. The time scale for runway development is remakable short when you think that airfields were mainly grass before the war, and that 10,000 x 300 ft concrete runways with asphalt covering and full lighting was being constructed in 1943.
As for 6ft deep some stretches had to be reinforced and probably were that deep, especially over softer land. Generally the surface is much thinner than that though.

RAF Great Sampford’s perimeter track is tarmac over concrete and I would presume that the current surface is original as it closed in 1945. Some is used by farm vehicles, but most of the repairs look to be patching or putting scalpings down.

It was home of a demonstration, in front of the inventor, of laying Sommerfeld tracking at speed – the main runway was completed in less than a day, IIRC. What really startled me, however, was walking past roadworks in Oxford in December and seeing stuff almost identical to Sommerfeld tracking being used to stabilise the lower section of roadbed before the tarmac went on top.

I don’t know about six feet deep, but the depth of concrete must have been reasonable as the last time I visited Great Dunmow a great deal of soil had been removed to retrieve concrete left behind when the perimeter track had been dug out first – so there must have been a quite a bit left, and there was at least eighteen inches of soil on top of it so a lot had been taken out the first time around.

Adrian

By no means an expert but here’s a ‘runway chronology’ for Station 51 – RAF Winthorpe:

Opened September 1940 with grass runways

February 1942 – concrete runways started to be laid down [gravel extracted from River Trent at Farndon by Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd – in part forming what is now Farndon Marina]

May 1944 – bituminous [tarmac] covering applied to 3 runways and taxiways

If you want to see a typical profile look at the approach road to the air museum; currently awaiting repair by the landlord! 🙁

Steve,
The good old Willis & Holliss lists all the military airfield runway surfaces as at Dec 1944 – in a very small font!! Might need some research to work out the precise differences between, say, “Concrete & asphalt” and “Concrete covered with asphalt”!!! Bound to be an expert on the subject lurking somewhere – there always is!!!!!!!!!!!
HTH
Resmoroh

I believe the Americans had a machine, that lifted the soil (dirt) and mixed it with cement and water, and laid it all in one go; I did read somewhere, that some of the sections laid, were upto 6ft in depth!

Steve

there is a thread on AiX running about runway surfaces, it has links to the DE publications as well. It may be of use.
http://airfieldinformationexchange.freeforums.org/runway-surfaces-t1719.html#p13693