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Issue link: http://airportbusiness.epubxp.com/i/516939
A O A May 2015 airportbusiness 33 before you know it, there are industrial parks all around and no space to expand. These arrestor systems have helped." From 2007-2011, Marchand says the FAA, in cooperation with the U.S. Transportation Research Board, through a group called the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), funded a research and developing project to find alternatives to the single existing EMAS sys- tem. One of the group's recommendations was a material called Glasopor, made by a company in Norway, Norwegian Glass Recycling. Recently installed at Chicago Midway International Airport's (MDW) Runway 22L, Runway Safe LLC's product is the first place- ment of its kind in the country. Up until the Runway Safe solution was approved in 2012, only one other EMAS had been accepted for use by the FAA. The green Runway Safe EMAS at MDW replaces the orig- inal system by Engineered Arresting Systems Corp. (ESCO), which was installed after a plane skidded through an MDW airport fence on a snowy Dec. 8, 2005. The Southwest Airlines' Boeing 737 hit a car and killed a young boy in the vehicle. The incident was a coincidence, as the beds had been approved three months prior by the FAA, but the accident is also what led the airport and others to this 2015 requirement. The ESCO crushable concrete arrestor beds made of lightweight blocks have deteri- orated over time, explains Marchand. Jet blast loads have contributed to this. "Especially at an airport like Midway, the pilots use up just about every foot of the runway that they can," he adds. "They put full thrust to take off and that jet blast blows over the arrestor beds." For MDW, this had become a problem that needed addressing, and with the Runway Safe solution now an approved option, the next step was logical. Pride says that in 2007-08, MDW installed four ESCO EMAS beds. "Since their installation, the Department has experienced significant maintenance issues with these original beds," she adds. "At the time, ESCO was the only FAA certified man- ufacturer of EMAS. In 2012, the FAA-certified Runway Safe as another manufacturer of EMAS. The Department began to evaluate the Runway Safe product and determined that it was right solution for Midway and O'Hare." INSTALLATION MADE SIMPLE Marchand says the arrestor bed installed at MDW is 245 feet long and 170 feet wide, a good option for their limited space and inability to have a full RSA at 1,000 feet long, or a longer arrestor bed of 600 feet long. "Midway is a unique situation in that the beds were built to fit whatever safety area they had," he notes, and says the solution for each airport is dependent on its fleet mix, or plane varieties which utilize the pavement. This research is part of the company's overall installation process: first determining the weight loads and jet blast loads the EMAS will have to handle. At Midway, the aircraft coming through are primarily Southwest Airlines' Boeing 737s. "At O'Hare, it's a different story," Marchand says, giving a nod to the larger aircraft for interna- tional and cargo flights. "So those arrestor beds will be designed differently." Currently, Runway Safe has a bid to add additional arrestor beds at MDW and O'Hare International Airport. Runway Safe's green EMAS is a pour-in- place solution, which makes actual installation simple and done on-site rather than produced in a factory, then secured by glue or another manner. The foam glass is poured above pave- ment, then a layer of controlled low-strength material (CLSM) is added and a final cover of methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymer topcoat is installed. The installation at MDW was completed on Nov. 13, 2014, and took three phases to accom- plish. First, there were three nights of pre-closure to the runway for removal of the old arrestor bed, surveying the site and installation of anchors. Second, a total closure of the runway for only 56 hours straight allowed for installation through the CLSM. Marchand says the team began on a Wednesday night, removed the old system. On Saturday it was open for landings and by Monday it was open for departures. A GREEN EMAS Runway Safe's green EMAS system is com- pliant with the United States FAA Advisory Circular 150/5220-22A. Pride says when the FAA "Airports have the problem of encroaching civilization around them." KIRK MARCHAND, CEO, RUNWAY SAFE LLC ©2014 Hyacinth Baltazar Pearson The MDW arrestor bed is 245 feet long and 170 feet wide.