The green stuff lining runways at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport may not be grass a year from now.

Airport officials are planning to replace 27,150 square feet of real grass at two intersecting runways with a special artificial turf designed for airports.

"The goal is to see how the turf performs compared to regular grass," said Cheryl Stewart, a BWI spokesman. "If the turf is durable enough, it may save maintenance because we won't have to cut grass in the (test) area."

Regular grass must be mowed by airport staff about once a month. During the mowing, runways must be shut down, so the work is usually scheduled late at...