Move Expected To Enhance Safety, Reduce Costs
By ANN Correspondent Rob Finfrock
"Human factors" are now included in the criteria that the FAA
will utilize when determining the placement and height of new air
traffic control towers across the country – and the move
might save some money, too.
Through a new program that measures air traffic controller
visual perspective information, visual performance capability
information from the Department of Defense, as well as limits
imposed by terminal instrument procedures to determine appropriate
airport traffic control tower heights, the FAA has revised its
procedure for selecting and designing sites for future
towers.
The FAA expects to see dramatic benefits from their investment
of about $150,000 in research into tower siting criteria, including
enhanced safety. The recommendations from that research are
expected to save the agency an estimated $5 million per year in new
tower construction costs, by identifying the optimum height for ATC
towers and reducing "overbuilding" costs.
"This achievement in air traffic control siting technology has
tremendous immediate and long term implications for both the
domestic and international aviation communities," said Charlie
Keegan, Vice President for Operations Planning Services of the
FAA's Air Traffic Organization. "It will enable tower planners to
find and resolve potential problems before tower construction
begins. The technology will enhance safety and efficiency, and will
save the FAA millions of dollars in tower construction costs in
years to come."
Every year, the FAA builds an average of seven new air traffic
control towers around the country. Each new tower costs millions of
dollars to construct at an average price of $40,000 per foot of
height. To ensure that new towers enhance airport and air traffic
safety while still being cost effective, FAA human factors and
tower simulation specialists researched ways to improve tower
siting (height and location) procedures.
FAA human factors specialists from headquarters, Great Lakes
Region system analysts and tower simulation specialists at the
William J. Hughes Technical Center near Atlantic City, along with
specialists from the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Md.,
developed a methodology to measure the improvement in controller
visibility that can be gained by modifying planned tower height at
different locations on the airport surface.
The Technical Center's Airport Facilities Tower Integration
Laboratory features a unique tower simulation system that can
create a 360-degree airport view for any city to evaluate potential
tower sites; and determine if clear and unobstructed views of the
airport surfaces and approach paths are visible from the various
tower control positions. Specialists also have used the system to
create realistic simulations of airport traffic control tower
environments to address other siting concerns.