Materials and structures for absorbing energy. The materials and structures are well suited for arresting aircraft and other vehicles, although their purposes need not be so limited. Also detailed are packaging and other solutions for maintaining system integrity, especially (but not exclusively) when foam glass or other aggregate is employed and stabilizing the location of the aggregate is desired.

A coating system and related methods for an airfield surface or a roadway is described. The coating system may include a stable cationic emulsion for application to the airfield surface or the roadway. The stable cationic emulsion may include a) an asphalt blend comprising gilsonite, wherein the gilsonite is modified to possess a positive charge, b) one or more polymers, and c) one or more surfactants not including a cationic surfactant. The coating system may also include a fine aggregate material for application to the stable cationic emulsion applied to the airfield surface or the roadway.

A coating system and related methods for an airfield surface or a roadway is described. The coating system may include a stable cationic emulsion for application to the airfield surface or the roadway. The stable cationic emulsion may include a) an asphalt blend comprising gilsonite, wherein the gilsonite is modified to possess a positive charge, b) one or more polymers, and c) one or more surfactants not including a cationic surfactant. The coating system may also include a fine aggregate material for application to the stable cationic emulsion applied to the airfield surface or the roadway.

A helipad includes an LED matrix built directly into the landing surface. LEDs within the matrix can be illuminated in controlled patterns to create visible objects to convey information to the pilot of an aircraft landing at the helipad and other personnel. The LEDs can be RGB color-change LEDs that are controlled to output selected colors, and can be activated with variable intensity. One of the patterns can be an arrow aligned with the wind direction as determined by an adjacent windsock, and another pattern can be determined by wind velocity as determined by an adjacent anemometer.

A method of making a roadbed, including paving an area with foamed glass bodies to define a bed and covering the bed with a layer of cementitious material to define a composite bed. The composite bed is at least 85 percent foamed glass bodies. The composite bed has a cementitious surface.

An impact-absorbing assembly includes a covering layer being one or more of artificial turf, rubber mats, polymer mats, short pile carpeting, particulate infill, wood chips, and ground rubber chips. Also included is a layer of underlayment panels positioned beneath the covering layer. The panels have a panel section with a plurality of drain holes formed therethrough. A top surface of the panels is configured to support the covering layer. A bottom surface of the panels has a plurality of bottom projections that cooperate to define bottom channels suitable to permit water flow across the bottom surface, the bottom channels being in fluid communication with the panel drain holes. The bottom projections define a first spring rate characteristic that is part of a first stage and a second spring rate characteristic is part of a second stage, the first stage having a smaller volume of material than the second stage.

An impact-absorbing assembly includes a covering layer being one or more of artificial turf, rubber mats, polymer mats, short pile carpeting, particulate infill, wood chips, and ground rubber chips. Also included is a layer of underlayment panels positioned beneath the covering layer. The panels have a panel section with a plurality of drain holes formed therethrough. A top surface of the panels is configured to support the covering layer. A bottom surface of the panels has a plurality of bottom projections that cooperate to define bottom channels suitable to permit water flow across the bottom surface, the bottom channels being in fluid communication with the panel drain holes. The bottom projections define a first spring rate characteristic that is part of a first stage and a second spring rate characteristic is part of a second stage, the first stage having a smaller volume of material than the second stage.

A method and system for facilitating cost effective, reliable, system redundant, self-driving vehicles involves the employment of specialized lane marking components that permit unprecedented sensor feedback, and in particular, a system and method that enables accurate lane marking recognition despite adverse weather conditions, which presently pose problems experienced by self-driving systems that rely upon vision based camera systems.

A ground stabilization grid which includes a series of polygonal shaped cells having x sides. The cells are formed by polymer walls having a wall height of between about 1 and about 6. Each cell shares a common wall section with at least two adjacent cells; and a majority of cells within the grid includes at least two reinforcing ribs extending across the cell to engage opposing walls of the cell. The reinforcing ribs are characterized by (i) engaging the cell walls between about 25% and about 75% of the wall height, and (ii) extending between different opposing walls of the cell.

A method for establishing a runway safety area adjacent a runway, wherein the runway safety area is a cement matrix having a plurality of foamed glass aggregate bodies suspended therein, including mixing cement and foamed glass aggregate bodies to define a composite material, forming the composite material into a runway safety area defining a plurality of foamed glass aggregate bodies suspended in a cement matrix, taxiing an aircraft over the runway safety area and crushing at least a portion of the runway safety area with the aircraft to bleed off the aircraft's kinetic energy, wherein the runway safety area has a crushing failure mode.