Yeager Airport Reopens Full Length Runway

The reopening of Yeager Airport’s full length runway in Charleston, WV was celebrated with a ribbon cutting event on July 19th. In 2015, catastrophic failure of the 240-foot-high reinforced soil slope and the emergency overrun structure upon which it sat occurred. The resulting failure swallowed buildings and caused major flood damage to upstream structures by blocking a portion of Elk Two Mile Creek. The collapse also destabilized the surrounding area and left a vertical face of partially reinforced fill looming over a massive debris field covering Keystone Drive. Schnabel Engineering was enlisted to develop a mitigation plan to stabilize the vertical face and debris field. Using risk based decision processes, Schnabel and its consulting team developed remediation plans and subsequently selected a repair alternative to restore the runway safety area. A new 85 foot high retaining wall with geofoam as a significant portion of the backfill was designed and constructed within 22 months.