Wilkes Barre/Scranton International Airport | Runway 4/22 EMAS & Installation

Runway 4/22 EMAS & Installation

Avoca, PA

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Owner

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport
Avoca, PA

Design Professional

URS Corporation
Hunt Valley, MD

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PROJECT

L.R. Costanzo was responsible for the coordination and supervision of the installation of the runway 4/22 Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS). EMAS is a proprietary system of low strength concrete blocks mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration and used to ensure safety of aircraft during landing and takeoff where an airport does not have adequate area for standard runway overruns. The team from L.R. Costanzo worked closely with the EMAS block manufacturer, ESCO, to ensure that they were manufactured on schedule, ready for installation and met the FAA project requirements.

CHALLENGES

Temporarily relocating the runway threshold for the airport’s active runway.
Construction with flight operations occurring overhead including delivery of materials with minimum disruption to airport operations and no runway incursions or safety violations.
Excavating the existing site to remove unsuitable fill in order to accommodate the EMAS system.
Working within a very stringent timetable.

SOLUTIONS

Relocated the runway threshold to provide a safe work area for installation of the EMAS system. This was done during the runway shutdown period of 11:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.
Built a new access road up the side of the embankment so as to not interfere with airfield traffic.
Excavated the existing unsuitable material to 3 feet, installed new material and repaved.
On site visits to EMAS block manufacturer, monitoring block fabrication and detailed planning and scheduling by the project management team.

CONSTRUCTION DETAILS

L.R. Costanzo experts also:

Coordinated work on an active runway of an airport within a strict timetable. The project was completed in just 6 weeks (1 month ahead of schedule), allowing normal operations to commence.
Synchronized the delivery and installation of the 3,300 block arresting system with the manufacturer and sub-contractors, oversaw the installation and supervised the compliance testing.