The ends of the runways at Lafayette Regional Airport have been re-engineered for safety.
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - The ends of the runways at Lafayette Regional Airport have been re-engineered for safety.
State Transportation Secretary Sherri LeBas tells The Advertiser that Federal Aviation Administration requirements called expansion, but there wasn't any land available. The airport is between the Vermilion River and U.S. 90.
Airport Aviation Director Greg Roberts says that, instead, the FAA allowed installation of lightweight, crushable concrete beds at each end of the runway. He says they will gently slow down aircraft that overshoot or the runway or might otherwise run off of it.
Tim Gaines of engineering firm URS Corp. says they're made of four-foot-square blocks of baked crushed concrete, from 6 to 27 inches thick.
LeBas says the state provided $435,000 toward the $8.7 million project, and the federal government paid the rest.