Page 213 - Planning and Design of Airports

178 Airp o r t D e sign

basic configurations. The basic configurations are (1) single runways,
(2) parallel runways, (3) intersecting runways, and (4) open-V runways.

Single Runway
This is the simplest of the runway configurations and is shown in
Fig. 6-1. It has been estimated that the hourly capacity of a single
runway in VFR conditions is somewhere between 50 and 100 opera-
tions per hour, while in IFR conditions this capacity is reduced to
50 to 70 operations per hour, depending on the composition of the
aircraft mix and navigational aids available [4].
Parallel Runways
The capacities of parallel runway systems depend on the number of
runways and on the spacing between the runways. Two, three, and
four parallel runways are common. The spacing between parallel
runways varies widely. For the purpose of this discussion, the spacing
is classified as close, intermediate, and far, depending on the center-
line separation between two parallel runways. Close parallel run-
ways are spaced from a minimum of 700 ft (for air carrier airports) to
less than 2500 ft [5]. In IFR conditions an operation of one runway is
dependent on the operation of other runway. Intermediate parallel
runways are spaced between 2500 ft to less than 4300 ft [5]. In IFR
conditions an arrival on one runway is independent of a depar-
ture on the other runway. Far parallel runways are spaced at least
4300 ft apart [5]. In IFR conditions the two runways can be oper-
ated independently for both arrivals and departures. Therefore,

FIGURE 6-1 Single runway confi guration: San Diego International Airport (NOAA
Approach Charts).