Concrete is a more costly material to use in the game. All concrete items are 25% more expensive to build and operate.
So what is advantage of using concrete? Is it more durable? (a.k.a. it needs less repairs) Or does it come with other advantages? I mean, there must be a valid reason for the 25% higher price, right?
Im sure I had to do with how often its needs repairs for stands and runways. but then again taxiways don’t need repairs soooo not sure. I do it based on the look I like for my airport. I like concrete stands for commercial and asphalt for GA, asphalt taxiways for all, concrete runways for commercial and asphalt Runways for GA…
Roads (because the security checkpoint for roads is (asphalt for public and concrete for service…). I wish there was an alternative option for the security checkpoint so it wouldn’t look weird if I used concrete for public and asphalt for service…
Asphalt for public roads and concrete for service roads to match the stands… but asphalt when crossing taxiways to match the taxiways.
AFAIK, there is no in-game advantage … yet … perhaps it’ll be a factor for ratings or incidents later in development. If you’re watching your budget, just use asphalt.
There had been some discussion somewhere on here about real-world differences. Asphalt is better for distribution of moving force, whereas concrete is better at resisting static force. That’s why in real airports, the stands and ramp are concrete, but roads, taxiway, and runways are asphalt.
I personally prefer the look of asphalt in-game.
In Alpha 34, quality in general matters. Passengers, GA pilots and airlines all take notice to how much you’ve invested in your airport. Top quality items and foundations are preferred and your rating will reflect that, which in turn will affect what kind of business you can pull in.
Good to know this is being adressed! Looking forward to this update
In general, concrete will last longer before needing to be resurfaced. I believe in road construction, asphalt roads need to be resurfaced usually every 5-10 years, while concrete only needs to be resurfaced/replaced every 15-20 years. There is more to the decision than just cost and longevity though as an asphalt road can be put down in less time, which can make a big difference in how long a road or other surface is unavailable.
As for airports, in the US there are plenty of examples of concrete runways and even all airport surfaces being concrete vs asphalt or a mixture.
I’m not sure if an airline matters about if an airport uses asphalt or concrete for their ground.
For runways: As mentioned, maybe the concrete runways will require less maintenance.
For taxiways: Maybe concrete would allow a faster speed on very hot days as asphalt could get soft … or on very cold days as asphalt could be more slippery due to ice.
I’ve often found that a mix of both is used because of their respective properties of hardness/usability.
Runways tend to be asphalt for each of maintenance while stands are concrete for durability.
My dad is retired from the genie company (army). He said they could lay an entire new asphalt runway in less than 12 hours. Concrete needs more.
I just hope for Alpha 34 there will be an option to ignore such… I prefer to use lower quality materials sometimes just because of their looks and aesthetic.
If the condition of concrete was deteriorating significantly slower, upgrading and repairing of runways & stands wouldn’t be immediate (and requiring closing), as also if repairing/building with concrete was slower than with asphalt, people would likely pay much more attention and planning which material to use where, especially when money isn’t a problem for them anymore, as though concrete would last longer, repairing would also require closing runway/stand or even the whole airport for longer than when built with asphalt (but it wouldn’t be as often).
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