Documents & Reports

Special Report

Synthetic Turf for Airfield Groundcover

AGAT IS a synthetic turf designed for airports, landing strips, and helipads. With our experience within artificial turf, aviation, and civil engineering, we are able to offer the possibility of optimizing security, increasing efficiency, and environmental improvements, while minimizing operation costs. Our sustainable surface solutions are thoroughly tested in laboratories and airports all over the world.

The Danish-based company Evergreen Aviation has made the first installation of artificial turf in a European civil airport. The special artificial turf from Evergreen Aviation is named Aviation Grade Artificial Turf (AGAT) and is an innovative form of groundcover. AGAT is sustainable, easy to maintain, and has a proven ability to reduce and prevent jet blast erosion and wildlife.

Evergreen Aviation provides consultancy, installation, service, operation, and maintenance of AGAT.

Nuanced approaches combat the call of the wild

Airport operators have multiple tools and methods at their disposal to reduce the risk of bird strikes and wildlife intrusions

Bird strikes and other encounters between aircraft and wildlife are a perennial danger to aviation safety, accounting for about 3.6% of all aviation accidents in 2017 according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) – but airport operators and industry are working together to minimise the risk.

High- and low-technology solutions are available, but wildlife management planners who deal with the problem must consider societal pressure (from environmental groups, for instance) to avoid the destruction of natural habitats. Speaking in November 2017 at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Seminar on Green Airports in Montréal, ACI World director general Angela Gittens emphasised that good practice in airport environmental management should be developed in many areas, including management of wildlife near and on the airfield. This demands a nuanced approach, and not simply measures to kill birds or other animals.

Airside Applications for Artificial Turf

DOT/FAA/AR-06/23 – Office of Aviation Research and Development – Washington, DC 20591

A study to investigate the potential applications of artificial turf at airports was conducted. Specific objectives were to identify safety concerns, to list applicable acceptance and performance tests and standards, and to address cost-effectiveness compared to other standard alternatives. During the investigation, a limited number of tests were conducted at the Federal Aviation Administration William J. Hughes Technical Center. These tests were safety-related, and the focus was on fire and jet blast resistance. In addition, a number of airports were visited. The purpose of these visits was to review demonstration projects set up by the artificial turf manufacturers and to survey these airports regarding the interest, purpose, and actual use of artificial turf.

The two main reasons for the use of artificial turf installations were to control soil erosion and to mitigate foreign object debris issues. Other considerations for the use of artificial turf included lower turf maintenance, wildlife mitigation, and visual enhancements.
The majority of airport concerns focused on the ability to resist jet blast, weather effects, and contaminants (fuel, deicing fluids, hydraulic fluids), and to support the load of safety vehicles as well as being skid and fire-resistant.

All of the airports were satisfied with the performance of their respective installations. Sufficient data was not available to report on the specific cost-effectiveness of the installations, but all of the airports indicated that the turf was cost-effective in comparison to alternative solutions to their specific problems.

This study concluded that available data to thoroughly investigate the use of artificial turf was limited and additional monitoring of current installations for long-term operational performance and cost-effectiveness was needed. This study also concluded that product specification acceptance tests and standards were incomplete and that additional performance tests and standards needed to be developed.

Advisory Circular

AC No: 150/5370-15B

Advisory Circular (AC) provides guidance for the planning, design,
installation, and maintenance of aviation-grade artificial turf in areas adjacent to the operational
areas of an airport.

AGAT advantages and applications Brochure 10092019

Evergreen Aviation assists airports in minimizing operation costs and improving security by reducing FOD, Erosion, Bird strikes, noise, and maintenance.
Aviation Grade Artificial Turf (AGAT) Evergreen Aviation is the distributor of AGAT for airports in Scandinavia, the UK, North Atlantics, MENA, several European, African, and Asian countries.
AGAT is a future proof, innovative solution with numerous advantages for installation in leading airports around the world.
With our experience within artificial turf, aviation, and civil engineering, we are able to offer a yet unexploited possibility of optimizing security, increasing efficiency, and environmental improvements.
Our solutions are thoroughly tested in laboratories and airports all over the world.
Evergreen Aviation provides consultancy, installation, service, and maintenance of AGAT.
To educate and minimize the environmental impact we strive
to use local manpower, equipment, and materials.

Test subject and reason for testing

The reason for testing the AGAT (Aviation Grade Artificial Turf)

AGAT has been installed in airports since 1998 and a significant number of helipad landing pads all over Europe in the last 8 years. So far, only undocumented landing tests have been made with helicopters to confirm any landing risks, such as dynamic rollover due to a stuck landing gear in the installation, as a result of the layout/design of the AGAT or a damaged landing gear structure.