FAA AC 150/5370-10G
By Donna Speidel

The most recent edition of the FAA Advisory Circular 150/5370-10 was released on July 21, 2014. As of July 13, 2016, an errata sheet was published and the current AC reflects those changes.

Needless to say, the AC 5370-10G, Item P-620 "Runway and Taxiway Painting", has undergone extensive revision to include several quality control measures for new construction projects. I'm comfortable with most of these items being included in your specifications as they're written, with some exceptions. To hear about all of the changes, consider attending an Airfield Marking Symposium in 2016. If you are already a subscriber, you'll get updates in your inbox periodically. If you're not, subscribe here.

This series of articles will address each change in the guidance literature, its intent, and what the new language means to you. You may download your own copy of Item P-620 from our website as a reference by clicking on the icon to the right.

Be sure to share this article with your Resident/Consulting Engineers, a lot of the new language Winters into their purview.

620-3.6 – Test Strips

• What Changed - Added guidance to include the following language: "Prior to the full application of airfield markings, the Contractor shall produce a test strip in the presence of the Engineer. The test strip shall include the application of a minimum of 5 gallons (4 liters) of paint and application of 35 lbs (15.9 kg) of Type I/50 lbs (22.7 kg) of Type III glass beads. The test strip shall be used to establish thickness/darkness standard for all markings. The test strip shall cover no more than the maximum area prescribed in Table 1 (e.g., for 5 gallons (19 liters) of waterborne paint shall cover no more than 575 square feet (53.4 m2)."
• The Intent - The contractor/applicator must demonstrate the ability of the application to comply with project specifications per Table 1 of AC 150/5370-10G, P620. Table 1 within that advisory circular specifies coverage rates for coating materials and glass beads. The applicator is required to apply 5 gallons of paint over a 575 square foot area (115 sqft/gal x 5 gal = 575 sqft) and apply the appropriate amount of glass beads (7 lbs/gal of Type I beads x 5 gal = 35 pounds, and 10 lbs/gal of Type III beads x 5 gal = 50 lbs).
• What It Means To You - It gives you a way to verify contractor performance prior to the start of permanent striping (a good thing). However, it does not guarantee even material distribution or performance after the test strip. Further, the new test strip guidance exclusively addresses the application of TT-P-1952E, waterborne paints at 115 square feet per gallon with either Type I or III glass beads. This suits many of the project specifications being used, but understand if your coverage rates change so will the yields above. Also, you're unlikely to have a large test area to paint, and if you do, you may never hit that "575" number exactly... what's the acceptable error? A contractor may be reluctant to try more than one "test strip" after putting down $300 in paint and Type III glass. In my humble opinion, quality control measures should include an inspector experienced with marking application (*ahem*) to calibrate the equipment and then confirm coverage rates with test strips. Test strips alone don't guarantee a good project, that's what Sightline's quality control technicians are for.

There is a tremendous amount of new information, best practices, and technologies available relating to airport pavement markings; all of which will be incorporated into the 2016 Airfield Marking Symposiums, designed to "ramp" you up quickly.

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