With the development of the airplane in the early 20th century, airfields and runways were quickly needed. The first concrete runway was placed in Dearborn, Michigan at Ford Field in 1928. The runways were originally grass when the airfield opened in 1924. The early concrete runways were built in a similar manner to highways in that many of them featured a thickened edge design. Typical designs included a cross section that went from 8 or 9 inches on the edges to 6 or 7 inches in the center of each lane.
