Watch our maintenance team’s Mark Griffith Sr. on the tractor and Tim Mininger in the support truck as they tune up our Portland International Airport runways. Aircraft land on PDX runways nearly 115,000 times each year, leaving their mark. Rubber removal prevents runways from becoming slippery in wet conditions. The runways have lateral grooves for water drainage and require regular maintenance as grooves can fill up with rubber in the touchdown zone. The ultrahigh pressure water blaster delivers water at 40,000 pounds per square inch to break apart the rubber, which is vacuumed into the trailer. Up to 15,000 pounds of material is removed each year.