In spring, Martha's Vineyard Airport (MVY) completed a $10.5 million reconstruction of its main runway two days early. Racing against time, crews laid asphalt daily'sometimes seven days a week'from late March until May 13. JetBlue Airways resumed its seasonal flights on May 17.
As the busiest single-runway airport in North America, San Diego International (SAN) must plan and execute any airfield work with precision and efficiency. The recent full-length rehabilitation of its 9,401-foot runway was an especially critical project.
After nearly 35 years of service and approximately 650,000 arrivals and departures, the primary arrivals runway at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) was due for a significant facelift. The $135 million project that provided it was the first full runway rehabilitation effort since the airport opened in 1974'and its first asphalt overlay.
There's never a good time to close runways and taxiways for rehab work. But thanks to an intense coordination effort, Page Field (FMY) in Fort Myers, FL, completed a nearly $30 million airfield project last year with minimal disruptions to flight operations. Crews repaved the airport's two runways, upgraded several taxiways and installed a new airfield lighting system in 19 months, despite imposing weather challenges that included Hurricane Irma in September 2017.
The recently completed engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK) is significant because it provides Atlanta's primary airport for business aircraft with an FAA-compliant runway safety zone. As one of the last U.S. installations by the system manufacturer, the project also has industrywide implications.
The first phase of a multi-part runway rehabilitation project was completed at Norfolk International Airport (ORF) last fall. The $15 million project was closely monitored by many, including commercial and cargo airlines that depend on the Virginia airport every day. vIn early August 2018, it closed Runway 5-23, and 178 workers and 76 pieces of equipment got to work.
When it comes to runway renovations and other projects, officials at general aviation airports in Colorado are especially fortunate, because the state regularly offers proactive financial and technical assistance. The Division of Aeronautics, a branch of the Colorado Department of Transportation, makes resources available to many of the state's 74 public use airports.
Faced with the prospect of an unacceptable delay to reopen a newly repaved taxiway, Orlando International Airport (MCO) got creative. Instead of waiting two or three months for new centerline lights to arrive, the project team pressed ahead last July and used temporary, portable solar-powered edge lights to make the major taxiway functional in just a few hours.
Closing the most-used runway at one of the busiest airports in southern California requires a great deal of advance planning, teamwork and coordination. That was the challenge facing Jess Romo, airport director at Long Beach Airport (LGB), for the first nine months of 2018.
In March 2016, Jeff Huntus, the manager of Medicine Hat Regional (YXH) in Alberta, asked for $12.5 million to replace the airport's main runway. Transport Canada told him not to expect funds until 2018 or 2019. But in 2017, he received notice that the program had been approved'and for $400,000 more than the airport had requested.
Rehabilitating a runway is always a big challenge, and often takes years of planning and fundraising to accomplish. Orlando Melbourne International Airport (MLB) in Florida recently reconstructed all three of its runways in just 14 months.
Officials at Jackson County Airport/Reynolds Field (JXN) in Michigan are pleased with the results of a $49 million runway project completed last fall, because they see it improving operational safety, creating new opportunities to generate more revenue and bolstering the airport's position as a local driver of economic growth.
