Massport Unveils Expanded Runway At Logan Airport
BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Port Authority has unveiled an expanded runway area at Logan International Airport designed to help stop planes from careening into Boston Harbor.
The safety area includes a 300-foot-wide concrete pier that extends 470 feet into the harbor.
The pier is designed to stop an aircraft as large as a Boeing 747 traveling at 70 knots if the plane moves past the end of the runway.
A crushable concrete bed installed on top of the pier is also designed to help quickly stop planes without causing damage.
The $63 million project began in 2011, with the Federal Aviation Administration contributing $50 million and Massport picking up the rest.
Massport also spent another $15 million to upgrade the runway's navigational aids so that aircraft can land in zero visibility conditions.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
