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Issue link: http://airportbusiness.epubxp.com/i/516939
A O A 34 airportbusiness May 2015 certified the new provider, the CDA was eager to evaluate the product and see if it was a good fit for MDW. "This was a great oppor- tunity to evaluate another FAA- approved product that provides a means to safely stop an aircraft, if necessary, upon landing," she says. "And, the product itself is in align- ment with CDA's commitment to sustainability." The Glasopor silica glass foam is the bulk of the material, explains Marchand. It's a loose fill and every piece is crushable foamed glass, a patented formula. Typically, it can be found as a roadbase material, insulation and on athletic fields. "It's a completely stable (chem- ically and biologically inert) material," he says. "It's basically sand, so water or heat won't break it down." The low-strength Glasopor is poured between Tensar BX Geogrid walls then leveled and compacted. The walls provide anchoring against jet blast uplift. The foam glass layer increases in thickness from the front to the back of the arrestor bed, to help a plane smoothly decelerate. Once the aircraft enters the bed, the landing gear enters and crushes that material. Marchand says it uses up energy, which then slows the aircraft down quicker. The combination of the braking, reverse thrust and now crushing the material allows it to safely stop in a third or half of the normal distance. He says another benefit of the green EMAS is the absence of chemicals that can leach out, and that it will have a long life and not impact the environment in a negative manner. Marchand says this system is construct- ed on-site, not shipped in packages and only assembled at the airport. "We feel it will perform as well or better from a serviceability standpoint," he says, explains it's a monolithic system. "There are no joints to leak or weaker over time." When it comes to maintenance, this green EMAS comes with a five-year warranty, so while Marchand acknowledges any additional cost is a concern for any airport executive, "life cycle costs will be much lower than with a different system," he says. "Be assured that for five years you won't pay a nickel to maintain the bed. Now, if a plane runs into it, that's another story." Pride is happy for the warranty, as she says it gives the CDA a level of comfort as the airports adjust to the product, especially as its launch customer. "For ongoing maintenance, the CDA is projecting that its annual maintenance expenses will be significantly reduced," she adds. "This is primarily due to the readily available materials used in the Runway Safe beds—concrete, MMA coating and Geogrid system. The only unique product is the foam glass which the CDA has stored on-site at Midway." We all know there are many months that Chicago is not green in color, but passengers flying through MDW can rest assured they are safe and sound all year round, as if lying on a bed of grass on a spring day. RSA RECOMMENDATIONS SIXTY-SEVEN percent of the 1,000 Runway Safety Areas (RSAs) in need of updating at commercial service airports across the nation have already been improved and meet FAA standards. But that means 33 percent do not meet this standard, and the deadline to do so is fast approaching, The FAA requires commercial service airports to improve these features by year's end. The FAA says many of the Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) arrestor beds installed prior to 2006 need re-painting to maintain the integrity and function of the bed. ESCO has developed a plastic seal coating for these beds. But another option, available since 2014, to bring these areas up to FAA standards is the green EMAS from Runway Safe. Glasopor silica glass foam makes up the bulk of the material in the arrestor bed. ©2014 Hyacinth Baltazar Pearson