Logan Airport Runway 27 Closes for 75 Days to Install FAA-Required EMAS Safety Surface
Why It MattersThe project reflects continued FAA-driven investment in runway overrun protection systems at major US airports, with construction timing coordinated to limit disruption during peak travel periods.
Runway 27 at Boston's Logan International Airport is closed for 75 days while crews build a bridge deck at the runway's end to support an Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS), a crushable concrete surface required by the Federal Aviation Administration that is designed to stop aircraft that overrun the runway. The bridge deck is engineered to bear the weight of a fully loaded Boeing 747, approximately one million pounds, and the EMAS surface works by letting an overrunning aircraft sink into the material to decelerate to a stop.
Massport's Director of Aviation Operations, Bob Lynch, described EMAS as a "porous, crushable-type concrete-type material" and noted the system could have helped slow the Amazon cargo aircraft that crashed at Miami Airport earlier this month. Sarah Dennechuk, Massport's deputy director for airfield projects, said the project spans two construction years at 75 calendar days each year, with crews working around the clock, and that the closure is timed to finish before the Thanksgiving travel period. Massport said it selected this period in consultation with airlines to minimize disruption, while acknowledging that shutting down a runway inevitably affects flight operations at the airport.
