Houston Artificial Grass offers a variety of benefits that make it far superior to traditional natural groundcover for airfield and airside applications. Being virtually maintenance free greatly reduces FOD, which currently costs the military millions a year in aircraft repairs. Security is also improved because there is little need for lawn crews to service restricted airfield areas. Artificial Grass turf also provides enhanced dust control, which can be helpful in eliminating brownouts during helicopter operations. Plus, Artificial Turf provides nonlethal wildlife management by removing sources of food, water and shelter, significantly reducing birdstrike and wildlife hazards. Additionally, Artificial Turf ’s superior drainage minimizes water erosion around runways, taxiways and shoulder areas. Another important feature of Artificial Turf is that runway and taxiway markings can be designed directly into the turf, providing better visibility and helping to delineate runways during poor weather conditions.

Artificial turf has several advantages over natural grass for use at airports:

• Rescue and firefighting vehicles can reliably drive on the artificial surface, as can planes that veer off the runway.
• Foreign Object Damage (FOD) can be reduced.
• Artificial turf provides no food, shelter, or water for wildlife, reducing the risk of wildlife colliding with planes.
• Artificial turf is always bright green, even in winter, and provides good visual contrast with runways and taxiways.
• Artificial turf will not wash away or become muddy, and helps to stabilize runway and taxiway shoulders.
• Less maintenance means fewer workers need security clearances, there is less chance of runway incursions by maintenance machines, and may reduce costs.
• Erosion from aircraft maneuvering is much reduced.