Soil Solutions was contacted by FRI-EL Ethiopia Farming and Processing PLC to provide a solution for the upgrade of a runway at their large Agricultural Operation where they are growing cotton, bananas and vegetables.
In line with their vision of supporting local economic growth and development in a sustainable and socially aware manner to become the leading, most innovative, and eco-friendly cotton farming and agri-business in Ethiopia they wanted an environmentally friendly solution.
The runway was constructed many years ago by the Govt and has not been properly maintained resulting in an uneven surface with erosion issues and material loss. In addition, the runway surface has deteriorated, and the surface is covered in loose gravel and stones. These stones are small and light enough to be sucked up into the propellers and cause damage to the aircraft.
A complete site inspection was conducted as well as a extensive Material Investigation which was required to identify material that could be used to bring the surface up to level and achieve sufficient compaction . With suitable material being identified it was concluded that upon the preparation of surface layers and compaction that an EBS surface seal would be applied .
The earthworks were conducted by the client with remote technical supervision from Soil Solutions . This same model of remote assistance was carried over to the stage of the EBS Surface Seal Application which was successfully applied and recently completed in October 2023 .
The EBS Surface Seal will provide a runway which will be compliant with all industry standards and the Ethiopian Civil Aviation requirements with an increased safety factor requiring a decrease of on-going maintenance requirements.
