AtkinsRéalis Awarded Envision Silver for Taxiway L Pavement Rehabilitation Package 1 at Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE)

As Pennsylvania’s third-busiest airport, Northeast Philadelphia Airport (PNE) plays a vital role in fostering regional economic growth by providing general aviation, air taxi, corporate travel and military services and also serves as a reliever for Philadelphia International. To better support aircraft using Runways 6-24 and 15-33, and meet evolving regulatory standards, AtkinsRéalis completed a major rehabilitation of Taxiway L by managing pavement design and utility upgrades.

Demonstrating a strong commitment to sustainability, our engineers incorporated full-depth reclamation in the pavement design. Full-depth reclamation is a sustainable rehabilitation method that involves crushing existing pavement in place and mixing it with cement to provide a base for new asphalt. As the first full-depth reclamation project at PNE, a significant amount of project materials were recycled on-site, reducing costs, carbon emissions and construction traffic.

Furthermore, the AtkinsRéalis Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) team conducted a preliminary assessment using the Envision framework to identify opportunities where sustainability goals could be met. They then coordinated with designers and the City of Philadelphia Department of Aviation to ensure sustainable applications and quantifiable metrics were integrated into the design for future verification.

In addition, the team provided a lifecycle cost analysis, recycled materials quantification, net embodied carbon accounting services, emission estimates, and an operational energy reduction analysis. Technical write-ups and documentation were prepared in support of project goals and requirements for Envision credits in the following categories:

• Quality of life
• Leadership
• Resource allocation
• Natural world
• Climate and resiliency

Using the team’s design, the taxiway was widened by 15 feet to create 20-foot shoulders in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration standards. To improve wayfinding, lighting and signage were upgraded by adding fixtures and replacing incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient LEDs.

By rehabilitating Taxiway L through full depth reclamation, approximately 30% of the materials used during construction were either reused or recycled, saving $500,000. This approach also reduced total embodied carbon over the life of the project by 15% and construction vehicle emissions by 81%. In April 2025, the project received an Envision Silver Award for sustainable infrastructure from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. This is the first Envision Silver Award for a project in Pennsylvania.

AtkinsRéalis served as the lead designer for the three design/construction packages of the Taxiway L Pavement Rehabilitation. Package 1 construction was completed in 2023, Package 2 was constructed in 2024, and construction of Package 3 was completed in summer 2025.

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