Foam Concrete-Based Soft Ground Arresting System for Runways

A soft ground arresting system (SGAS) is an alternative solution on airport runways where the runway safety area (RSA) does not meet international Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards. The length of the runway can be shortened if an SGAS is installed on both ends of the runway. This paper evaluates the options of using foamed concrete as the arresting bed material in an SGAS. Tests on the foamed concrete were conducted to see if it has the ability to withstand support vehicle loadings and fails underneath loading from an overrunning aircraft. The objective of the paper is to present the required and measured properties of foamed concrete (density, compressive strength and durability) and results of an evaluation into its possible implementation as an SGAS as an alternative to the engineered material arresting system (EMAS) on airport runways.