MWAA Firing Range
The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority firing range project provided a series of improvements to remediate the existing two 50-yard, eighteen-lane firing range design shortcomings. The primary scope of work consisted of removing the existing ground-mounted timber knee wall that protected a series of ground-mounted target carriers. Further replacement extended to the existing sand mound bullet trap. The sand mound trap system was no longer effective after reports indicated that when the ranges were in high use the constant volume of fire would produce a cloud of sand that would often conflict with the training evolution at hand.
The sand mound bullet trap was replaced with a sloped concrete slab. The slab was then designed to be covered with granular rubber millings. The concrete slab in conjunction with rubber millings provides a continuous bullet trap barrier that no longer produces a cloud of sand when struck by a large volume of fire. The use of granular rubber millings allows the trap to be mined and cleaned several times over before the millings need to be replaced in full. The former ground-mounted target system was removed and replaced with 36 new ceiling suspended target systems.
The ceiling-mounted target systems can rotate a full 360 degrees, and be controlled by a portable tablet device held by the range instructor at any place within the range confines. An additional running man target carrier was provided, one for each of the two ranges. In summary, the improvements made to the existing facility provide a functional leading edge for all law enforcement personnel who will use the facility going forward.
