AirTrain JFK — Most Innovative Use of Slag Cement in Concrete

Created by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, AirTrain JFK is a new transit system that links New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport with Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains, New York City Transit subways and local buses. Opened in December 2003, the $1.9-billion project

(paid for by system users and Port Authority capital funds) provides passengers with an eight-minute roundtrip circuit of the airport; a less than 45-minute trip from Manhattan to the airport via Jamaica on the LIRR; and a trip of less than one hour from Manhattan to JFK via Howard Beach on the subway.

Approximately 200,000 cubic yards of concrete was used to create the system, which includes 482 cast-in-place columns with 20-percent and 30-percent slag cement replacement rates, and 5,000 precast, post-tensioned segments incorporating 40-percent slag cement replacement. The elevated guideway portion, stretching more than eight miles in length, is the longest segmental precast bridge in the United States. An estimated 30,000 people will use the system daily.

The Slag Cement Association (SCA) promotes the increased use of slag cement and portland-slag cement blends. The association is the leading source of knowledge on blast furnace slag-based cementitious products. It educates customers, specifiers and other end-users on the varied attributes, benefits and uses of these products.