Sooner or later, most single-runway airports have to bite the bullet and shut down to rehab their airstrip. For Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), that time came this spring. When the Wyoming airfield reopened in late June, it had a reconstructed runway designed to last for many decades and improvements in and around the terminal, to boot.
Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) was built in the 1960s when both aircraft and air passenger numbers were much smaller. As the airport entered its sixth decade with passenger counts surging to 15 million and aircraft reaching record size, one of its biggest challenges was space constraints for aircraft taxiing to and from the gates.
The $14 million runway reconstruction that Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA) completed last fall not only rebuilt its 53-year-old runway. The project also sets the stage for another airfield project that will improve safety and help ensure future viability of the airport. Runway 17-35 dates back to 1974, five years after CWA was originally constructed and opened.
Before Dunsmuir Mott Municipal Airport (MHS) could cut the ribbon on its newly rehabilitated runway last June, the $3.2 million investment was already delivering value to the surrounding region. With the airfield project still in its final stages, Dunsmuir city leaders received a request from the United States Forest Service to stage firefighting helicopters at the single-runway, city-owned airport.
Construction projects are often all about numbers, and recent airfield improvements at Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) in North Carolina has some doozies. The four-phase project to replace a 50-plus-year-old runway was supposed to take five years. Instead, construction issues added three years and $40 million to the original budget.
Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is enjoying the benefits of rehabilitating Runway 14-32, its main crosswind runway that also happened to be one of its oldest. Associated connector taxiways were upgraded with new pavement and lighting as well.
Some say it isn't easy being green, but Nashville International Airport (BNA) certainly makes it look effortless. When the Music City airport opened Concourse D in 2020, the project achieved LEED Silver certification for a sustainable, wellness-oriented design and construction process. It is one of just nine airport facilities in the world to earn LEED Silver under the U.S. Green Building Council's v4 standards.
Robert Hoxie, chief development officer for the Chicago Department of Aviation, doesn't mince words about the importance of completing the O'Hare Modernization Program. Since it was first announced in 2001, the $8 billion program has been steadily transforming the airfield at O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to improve safety and efficiency and reduce delays that were known to cause ripples throughout the National Airspace System.
There is a certain type of NASCAR fan who prefers to watch races from pit road because that's often where races are won or lost. They love to see the carefully choreographed flurry of action as crews fuel up a car and swap out four tires in less than 15 seconds.
It's not an exaggeration to say that airfield operations at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) impact the entire global aviation system. It is, the fourth-busiest airport in the world. When officials determined it was time to rehabilitate one of the critical hub's seven runways, care was given to the design, planning and phasing of the project.
At a time when some airports were pressing the proverbial pause button on all construction and improvements, Fort McMurray International (YMM) in Alberta was moving ahead with plans for a major runway rehabilitation. The $15 million project was completed in May, funded entirely by the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo.
The internet is full of videos about home improvement projects that mushroom in size and scope. What starts as a simple fix all too often becomes a complete redo. McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) near Knoxville, TN, experienced a similar storyline when it undertook what was initially envisioned as a simple runway rehab in 2009. Spoiler alert: TYS installed fresh concrete, but also ended up extending and completely redesigning the runway'and installing a new instrument landing system (ILS) on the parallel runway.
