Winning projects entered into the annual ACEC-VT Engineering Excellence Awards competition were announced at the Engineers Week Banquet at the Double Tree in South Burlington on February 26. DuBois & King was recognized for the Rutland Southern Vermont Regional Airport Runway Safety Area Improvement Project. Working with the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), D&K was brought into the project specifically to meet aggressive funding and construction deadlines for compliance with regulations for runway safety areas. D&K designed the safety improvements, secured federal, state, and local permitting, solicited contractor bids, and completed the FAA application for the $10M project within 8 months (6 months actual design).
The design incorporated a non-standard, first-in-Vermont technique to overcome site constraints in order to comply with FAA regulations. The safety area of Runway 01 was constrained by a steep embankment, Class III wetlands, and a town road, posing a design challenge to extending the length of the runway. Because of insufficient space for standard runway safety area improvements, the design included a 55-foot, two-tier retaining wall (designed by a subconsultant) to extend the runway enough to accept an Engineered Materials Arrestor System (EMAS), a bed of engineered, high-energy absorbing materials that will crush under the weight of aircraft, safely arresting overrunning planes. This first implementation of an EMAS in the state allowed a 40% reduction in the length of the RSA. D&K received a Merit Award for the project.