Aircraft Hangar Foundations and Aprons in Texarkana, Texas

A hangar door is the widest opening most buildings ever have, and everything about the foundation comes from that opening. The door header spans a hundred feet or more with almost no walls to share the load. The door track runs in a trench in the slab. The floor under an aircraft has to be flat enough that a tug can move a wing without a surge, and sloped enough that spilled fuel or foam runs to a drain instead of under the plane.

We build the concrete that goes under and around hangars in Northeast Texas: footings, slabs, door tracks, aprons and the site utilities. The Texarkana area does not have a long list of public hangar projects to point to, and we do not claim any. What it does have is heavy maintenance experience. The Army says Red River Army Depot is the Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle System and that it stored more than 58,000 returning combat vehicles in 1946. Floors that carry heavy tracked equipment are not strangers to this region, and the same attention applies to aircraft.

The rules that shape a hangar

Hangar design uses the building code plus the fire protection standard for aircraft hangars, which sets construction, drainage and suppression requirements by aircraft size and fueling activity. Inside Texarkana, the Inspections office reviews plans under the International Building Code as presently listed, the International Fire Code and Texas Accessibility Standards. The edition in force should be confirmed with the City.

An airport sponsor, where there is one, adds its own layer: height limits, lease terms, apron access and sometimes design standards. Federal review applies near runways. Those items are not ours to decide, but they affect the foundation, because a lease line or a setback moves the building and the apron with it. We ask for the sponsor's requirements before pricing.

Door track, floor and apron

A hangar floor is thick, reinforced and sloped. Typical designs pitch the floor toward drains that connect to an oil separator or a foam system. We form trench drains and concrete drainage in the slab and place the reinforcement to carry wheel loads from the heaviest aircraft the owner expects. Heavier jets mean thicker sections and more steel.

Door tracks are cast into a recessed trench along the front of the building. The trench has to be straight and level to a close tolerance, or the door binds and wears. Outside, the apron is concrete paving designed for slow, heavy wheel loads and fuel exposure, with joints sealed against jet fuel. We pour the apron with the same attention that we give a truck court, with dowels at every contraction joint.

Foundations for a long-span frame

A long-span steel frame puts big reactions at a few columns. The footings may be spread footings, drilled piers or grade beams tied to the slab, depending on the soil. The clays of Bowie County are the issue, and our notes on Bowie and Cass County site conditions go into more detail. The Billyhaw series, which has its type location at Texas Highway 8 and Interstate 30 in New Boston, is a very fine clay with 60 to 80 percent clay and very slow permeability on the Red River flood plains. Clay like that swells and shrinks with moisture, and a hangar with a movable door tolerates very little movement.

To handle it, we recommend a geotechnical program at the building location, deeper footings or piers below the active zone and engineered fill under the floor. Drainage around the building has to carry roof and apron runoff away from the foundation. The Texark series, with cracks reported deeper than 20 inches when dry, is a reminder that dry spells open the ground just as wet ones soften it.

What a hangar costs in concrete

The apron is often the largest concrete item. A hangar with a ramp area the size of a parking lot, built thick enough for aircraft, can cost more than the building floor. The footing system is second, because wide-span frames need large foundations. Drainage and fire suppression trenches add detail work, and special joint sealants for fuel resistance add material cost.

We advise owners to decide aircraft size and hangar door width early, because they set the apron thickness, the door header and the foundation. A change from a small turboprop to a mid-size business jet changes more than the door. General contractors and construction managers usually ask us for a unit price on apron thickness so that they can price alternates quickly.

Building around the weather

Hangars are exposed. The City's hazard mitigation plan describes the area as prone to tornadoes and hailstorms, and a wide door is the weak point in a storm. The slab edge, the footing and the door track must be able to accept the hold-down forces the engineer calls for, and the anchor bolts at the door jambs are checked with extra care.

On a job like this, we schedule the apron late so that heavy construction traffic does not damage it, but we place the base early so that it can settle and be tested. If you are comparing a hangar with a large pre-engineered metal building, the foundation concepts are similar but the door and floor drainage requirements are not, and the cost of getting them wrong is far higher. A hangar used for heavy maintenance behaves more like a manufacturing plant floor, and a large clear-span hangar shell sometimes uses tilt-wall panels instead of steel siding.

Tell us the aircraft and the door width

Send the aircraft list, door width and soil report. We will price the footings, floor, door track and apron with the loads written beside each line.

Common Questions

How thick should the floor and apron be?

The structural engineer sets it from the heaviest aircraft and the soil strength. Floors for small piston aircraft are lighter than floors for business jets. The apron should be checked for ramp loading and turning stresses, and the subgrade tested in the field before any steel is placed.

Do hangar floors need to be sealed against fuel?

Often yes. Concrete absorbs fuel and oil, and spills can damage joint sealants and the surface. Owners typically choose a penetrating sealer or a coating, and joint sealants rated for fuel. We coordinate the cure so that the sealer can be applied on time.

What happens if the door track is out of tolerance?

The door drags, wears and may stop mid-travel. Correcting a track after the concrete is poured means cutting out the trench and repouring. We set the embedded track from a survey and check it twice before the pour.

Can a hangar be built on fill?

Only on engineered fill with density testing and sometimes with piers that go through it. A hangar floor on uncontrolled fill cracks and settles in ways that affect doors and aircraft movement.

Who approves a hangar on airport property?

The airport sponsor approves the lease and design, the local building official reviews the plans where applicable, and federal agencies review certain structures. We build to the approved drawings and coordinate our work with each reviewer's inspection schedule.

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