T我经历过的他最大的刺激是观看23号A-4 Skyhawk喷气式战斗机的第一次登陆^rd我们到达楚莱（Chu Lai）海滩的第二天，当时是越南南部。那是1965年，我是一名年轻的土木工程军官，在移动建筑营10.我们的任务是为Marine Air Group 12建造单个战术或临时跑道和临时支持设施。我们被告知我们是自第二次世界大战以来，第一个西贝营越过战区的海滩。

To land the Skyhawk on such a short runway, they had to be caught in a cable as if they were on an aircraft carrier.

如今，每次我开车穿越一条破裂的高速公路人行道时，我的想法都可以追溯到越南冲突初期这些战术跑道的问题和失败。海军陆战队需要在Chu Lai的那一家，直到承包商Raymond-Morrison-Knudsen在第二年建造了更持久的混凝土跑道。我的单位是三角洲公司Seabees，必须为飞行员和飞行人员提供安全的表面。

在110°热的最尝试条件下，它是解决问题的。越共自杀袭击和定期敌对活动。敌人的巡逻和公司级别的战斗行动意味着海军陆战队必须在我们的行动中保持密切关注。

施工麻烦始于当地材料的有限选择。我们在表土中有沙子或稍后的粘土材料，以建造铝板的底座。

Runway construction in Chu Lai, Vietnam in 1965. Photo Courtesy of John Zander

By the time the first Skyhawks were landing, we had completed only 2,000 feet of a runway. Because the runway was so short, the marines anchored an arresting gear near the south end to catch the aircraft on a cable. It seemed pretty clever and it enabled the Marines to use the runway at the earliest possible date.

但是，飞行人员将如何在如此短的跑道上送飞机呢？

几天后，我们发现了一些第一个天鹰队使用喷气辅助起飞瓶高高地枪杀，这是一种通过以小型形式提供其他推力来帮助超载飞机进入空中的方法火箭.

Aircraft operations with the smaller Skyhawks continued daily as my Seabee company gradually built the runway up to its final 8,000-ft length. What we didn’t know was the limitations of the tactical runway design for aircraft heavier than the Skyhawks. An A-4 Skyhawk is 24,500 lbs when fully armed; a C-130 Hercules transport airplane is 164,000 lbs before it is loaded.

As we neared completion, the C-130s began making medical evacuations of wounded combat marines and bringing supplies. The rolling loads proved too much. What we built deteriorated as the planes came and went, and the surface sometimes looked like a washboard or shifted as aircraft wheels crossed over it.

约翰·赞德（John Zander）于1965年在越南楚莱（Chu Lai）。

We had built the runway surface with 2 ft by 12 ft Marston Mat aluminum planks with interlocking grooves along each edge. Two inches thick, each plank weighed 144 lbs. There was a non-skid coating on the surface. Handling them required heavy leather gloves because in the 110° heat and sun, they were too hot to touch with our bare hands.

很快就意识到基地而不是木板失败了。小心地分级松散的沙子和压实的肉馅岩层根本无法为C-130提供稳定的基础。

我们不是第一个面对问题的人。从1965年到1967年，海军和陆军工程部门试图提出使用可用材料的简单设计。Marston Mat木板已经长时间研究了，士兵和水手已经与他们进行了训练和排练的建筑，然后离开美国进入战区，并没有更大的飞机，没有达成任何结论性的标准。归咎于军事工程师必须使用目前的东西。

我们试图用塑料护套保护底座，但是季风降雨和每日飞机车轮载荷最终使后矿石变成了汤般的混合物，该混合物在跑道表面的侧面渗出。

因此，我们不得不逐块重建底座，这意味着要去除凹槽的铝板，后矿床，并用砂水泥混合物代替底座。

另一个Seabee营最终击中了一个解决方案：它将沙子装袋并将袋子放在冠状配置中。被限制的沙子证明是较重的车轮载荷的足够基础。

The Simplest Solution

在这种情况下，最简单的解决方案和生活中的许多其他解决方案都是最好的。

其他测试可能y showed that a sheet of vinyl-covered nylon could help secure the subgrade. Also, various bituminous coatings were tried and proved capable of providing a seal and binder for the sand and laterite base. As long as it was sealed with the newly developed vinyl covered nylon sheeting to hold the monsoon rains out of the base, laterite worked well.

我们简化地使用砂泥浆混合物需要大量的水泥，并且我们的进度很慢。随着海洋空气操纵的持续，我的单位必须在晚上在泛光灯下完成任务。夜间工作从室外温度剃光了20度，幸运的是狙击手脱离，因此我们大部分自由工作。

Occasionally, even a powerful F-4 Phantom jet fighter would use our tactical runway at Chu Lai.

如果有人能记住幻影做飞行的深度签名狂欢声，那就是那种可以给您带来鸡皮s的声音，就像对我一样。

Chicago-based John Zander is a consultant to banks on construction projects. He can be reached atmarshfield40@gmail.com。