I've received a feedback from an airport manager that flexible pavement is not recommended for runways within the regions of an extreme hot climates; this is because of the particles of asphalt that generate through the aircraft traffic along the time over runways, in which a potential risk on aircraft engines may occur by vacuuming these particles, and that some airports, accordingly, have replaced the runways' flexible pavement with rigid one. Is that true? Is there any new recent recommendations from ICAO or FAA in this regard??
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1$\begingroup$ I would think that the greater issue would be that black asphalt under a hot sun gets soft and the weight of aircraft traveling over it would cause ruts. This happens often on highways with cars and trucks, so I'd think it would be an issue at an airport, too. Especially when the aircraft is parked at a gate for a period of time. I'd imagine that different specs are used for the asphalt at airports than for roads, though, to mitigate the issue $\endgroup$– FreeManCommented Feb 28, 2017 at 21:53
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1$\begingroup$ You know, @mins, there was already an answer on this question that specifically mentioned flexible pavement in hot conditions. I was a bit out of it yesterday... $\endgroup$– FreeManCommented Mar 1, 2017 at 14:58
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1$\begingroup$ I can't speak to the current situation, but in the 1990s I often flew into Jeddah, Dhahran, and Riyadh, all in Saudi Arabia. It doesn't get much hotter in the summer than there, and all of the runways back then were asphalt. We did take care in the middle of summer in the middle of the day to slow to little more than walking speed when making a 90 degree turn as we found that the nose gear on a 747 would tend to slip occasionally in the extreme heat. $\endgroup$– TerryCommented Mar 2, 2017 at 6:45
1 Answer
Answering for ICAO, no there aren't such regulations/recommendations.
All what matters to the regulatory bodies is the ACN-PCN. If seasonal changes affect the PCN, then different PCN's are to be reported.
The bearing strength of a pavement intended for aircraft of apron (ramp) mass greater than 5 700 kg shall be made available using the aircraft classification number — pavement classification number (ACN-PCN) method.
[...]
Different PCNs may be reported if the strength of the pavement is subject to significant seasonal variation.
— ICAO Annex 14 Chapter 2
Flexible pavements (asphalt) are actually very common in hot climates, see here: Why are most runways made of asphalt and not concrete?