Ushuaia’s New International Airport

The highest expression of engineering lies in those works which challenge nature and rise through a modified environment as a proof of human genius and perseverance. Ushuaia's new international is one of those titanic works, located in the Andean geography, next to the Beagle Channel, in the most southern city of the world. Literally, three hills had to be cut down and two valleys filled, before paving the area designed as runways, platforms and taxi-ways of Ushuaia's new International Airport. The author, involved in this project for more than 10 years, conducted the technical work including its design and construction, and for the three summers that took to pave the area, the works faced several technical challenges, which are reported in this document. Material main properties, pieces of equipment, design criteria adopted in order to achieve strength and durability under extreme weather conditions are herein explained. Design methods, control and pavement placement are described. Additionally, safeguards adopted to blasts near plastic concrete and the experiments conducted to achieve a surface texture to avoid hydroplaning of aircraft tics are also included in this report.