Earth moving work on the Charleston end of Yeager Airport's main runway should be complete by the end of this week, but construction of the safety overrun area to be built on the site is not likely to take place until March.

That was one of several construction updates delivered Wednesday to members of the airport's governing board by Yeager's director, Rick Atkinson.

Atkinson told board members that an Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS) arrestor bed is scheduled to be installed at the site in March, when temperatures are expected to rise above 40 degrees for extended periods of time, allowing the system's specially designed concrete blocks to be set in place.

When an aircraft rolls into an EMAS arrestor bed, tires sink into the bed's light concrete, causing the aircraft to rapidly decelerate by having to roll through the material. EMAS arrestor beds, designed to prevent runway overruns, are in use at 14 U.S. airports, and are scheduled for installation at Yeager and three other airports, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

When the weather conditions are favorable, it should take only four weeks to install the arrestor bed, Atkinson said.

Once earth-moving work is complete on the Charleston end of the main runway, construction crews will turn their attention to the Coonskin Park end, where a 500-foot-long extension of the main runway is taking shape.