Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-03
AVIATION
BY JOSEPH S. .EDdERToN.

be 1000 feet long. The main run
way, extending northeast and
southwest, in the direction of the
prevailing winds, is completed,
having length of 2,700 feet. The
eaSt-west runway, which was less
than 1000 feet long a month ago,
now is 1879 feet long and is ap-
proximately 1000 feet wide.
1t is the intention of Capt.
Thomas Carroll, vice president of
the Washington Air Terminal Co.,
owners of the field, to develop the
airport as an all-way field, or one
in which there are no fixed run
ways, but which is available for
take-offS and landings in all di-
rectionS.
For this reason unusual atten-
ton has been paid to the grading
and leveling of the field, which
now is rated as one of the smooth
est in the country, despite the fact
that much of the area is recently
filled swamp land. The method of
maintaining level fill, it is said,
is serving as an example for air.
port officials throughout the
country who are facing the same
conditions.
The material composing the fill
is difficult to handle, especially in
the area used as trash dump.
Rubbish of all sorts is dumped
there and burned. The residue
packs down, according to the
plans of Old Mother Nature and
Newton's law of gravity, which, it
may be mentioned, is not too sat-
iSfactory for airport purposes.
Building on Trash.
1--WE were warned" said Capt.
Carroll, that we would have to
put at least three feet of earth
fill on top of the dumps, and that
even then it would settle unevenly
and would be bumpy and trouble
some. Instead we drag only a few
inches of earth over the dump
and have made good, smooth
surface. The secret is that when
we find an area settling and form
ing a hole, we don't fill it up; we
dip down to see what is making
it settle.
I'VE have found in some cases
old gasoline drums have rusted
away and the fill is settling to fill
the hole or that other similar ills
are resulting in holes in the sur
faces. We dig down, put in a lit
tie real ballast and fill to level,
with the result that we have no
further trouble"
The result has been a beauti-
fully level landing area. Maj.
John Jouett, former commander
of the Army Air Corps Sd Attack
Group, now in commercial avia-
ton, who visited the field re-
Gently, remarked: 'This may not
be the largest airport have seen,
but it certainly Is the smoothest."
So smooth is the airport that a
few days ago Chester Warrington,
one of the newest entrants in the
National Capital aviation field, to
demonstrate a new automobile
drove 1t at a speed of 80 miles per
hour around the landing area.
Unique Drainage System.
Drainage of the field also pre-
Sented rather unusual problems.
Much of the field area is in grass,
but large portions are bare earth
upon which traffic prevents seed
ing. This has been oiled to keep
down the dust, the oil forming a
crust through which rain water
cannot seep.
AS a result the water collected
in large, shallow pools on the oily
surface, standing 4 or 5 inches
deep in places. Draining tile
would do no good, since It was
the surface of the soil which was
at fault. It occurred to Capt. Car
roll that If the oil crust were
punctured, the water might run
through, as it would through a
leaky pan. A tractor was taken
out into the puddles and run
around to break up the oil crust.
The water Immediately began to
disappear so rapidly that its ebb
was clearly noticeable to the
watcher.
I'VE decided that here was the
secret of drainage" Capt. Carroll
explained. I'm the center of the
largest low area we sank a hole
down to the level of the water
table, which was the same as that
of the river. The water in this
hole rose and fell with the tides
in the river, showing that plenty
of drainage was available. We
filled the hole with broken brick
and surfaced the hole with Gin
ders laid flush with the surface
of the field.
1--WE waited for some time be-
fore the new drain got its first
good test. Then came a hard
shower. The low area began to
fill, and almost Immediately I got
an excited call from the hangar
by telephone and one from the
line by lung power that a geyser
was spouting out of the drain
hole. Sure enough, there was a
column of water several inches
high bubbling and boiling out Of
the ground.
Compressed Air Geyser.
Investigation showed that 1t
was caused by the water rushing
into the hole so fast that air was
carried along. 1t was the air fore
ing it's way up that caused the
bubbling and boiling. The drain
was so thoroughly successful that
several more sink-holeS of the
same sort have been put in at
other points in the field, with the
result that the drainage is per-
feet"
A subsidiary company of the
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