Regina Int’l Enhances Runway and Approach Lighting Systems

Regina International Airport (YQR) in Saskatchewan gets plenty of winter weather events, and James Bogusz says his snow removal crews rank No. 1 when stacked up against other mid-size airports in Canada. Nevertheless, the Regina Airport Authority president and chief executive officer has long realized that excellence in snow removal alone is not enough to help pilots land safely in inclement conditions.

“We know how to deal with snow and ice in this city. We are used to it,” Bogusz says. “However, when clouds are low and it is pounding snow, it doesn’t matter how much snow we move on the ground. A big part of the ability to approach the runway is really the lighting.”

To increase visibility and decrease diversions, YQR invested $2.2 million in new runway edge lighting and an upgraded approach lighting system as part of a major $26 million airfield rehabilitation project this past calendar year. The airport accessed a 50% federal funding allotment through the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program (ACIP) and financed the remaining half with borrowed funds. The guiding objective was to improve overall landing conditions for incoming aircraft.

“Prior to the project initiating, we worked with the airlines for about 18 months planning schedules and doing our best to move all of the traffic to our secondary runway,” recalls Bogusz. “We obviously had to be mindful of weather and the time of year for the work, as you can’t be doing any paving in the middle of winter in Regina, Saskatchewan.”

Bogusz says the airlines were very gracious and accommodating about the proposed construction window at Canada’s 16th-busiest airport in terms of passenger volume. Work commenced in April 2023 after the worst of the snowy winter season and was completed in October 2023, before winter returned. While crews worked, aircraft used YQR’s 6,200-foot crosswind runway.

Quick Change

The airport hired general contractor PCL Construction Management to oversee the project. The two main components were installing new edge lighting for the full length of 7,901 feet of Runway 13-31 at a cost of $1.2 million; and replacing the omnidirectional approach lighting (ODAL) on Runway 31 with an $1 million simplified short approach lighting system (SSALR).

PCL District Manager Jordan Clouthier notes that the entire project, including new intelligent lighting solutions, was condensed into an impressive timeframe.

“It was originally planned to be a two-year project, but we did it in six months inside one season,” says Clouthier. “We stacked a lot of different tasks on top of each other to get it done in seven months, and it was great that we did.”

Doing so drastically mitigated the project’s effect on airfield operations and reduced the accommodations required from the airlines.

In addition to being thankful that work did not stretch across two Canadian winters, Clouthier is grateful for the collaborative approach YQR took on the project.

“The airport allowed us to procure our subcontractors in a manner that was beneficial to them, and to make sure we got the right people on the job,” he says. “That allowed us to make sure we got the right subcontractors on board and everybody performed super well on the job to make it happen in six months.”

Efficiency was achieved by allowing each trade ample room to work, he adds.

“Instead of having the electrical in the same trench as the other site services, we split that apart to make sure that those scopes could go ahead on their own and not interfere with one another,” Clouthier explains.

State-of-the-Art Electrical

Clouthier commends Avia NG Airport Consultants and electrical contractor Tristar Electric for collaborating to provide the best fixtures and towers for YQR’s runway lighting. ADB SAFEGATE lighting was installed alongside frangible aluminum towers designed by Millard Towers Ltd. to meet Transport Canada guidelines. The runway now has all new edge lights, threshold/end lights, pullpits, conduit and cabling.

Greg Cuneo, senior project manager with Avia NG, says the new runway edge lighting is fully compliant with the latest Aerodromes Standards and Recommended Practices (TP 312), and is also more reliable than the airport’s previous lighting. It is designed to serve traffic at YQR for the next 20 years or more.

The new SSALR on Runway 31 is designed to improve safety by helping incoming pilots align their aircraft with the centerline. The array includes seven towers with 35 steady-burning lights that are used to create a reference plane, as well as five towers with single flashing lights that create a sequential strobe flash pattern rolling toward the runway threshold. In addition, 17 fixed, unidirectional lights glow green in the direction of the approach to the runway and are installed across the threshold.

“This is especially useful in nighttime and reduced visibility conditions,” Cuneo notes.

The new enhanced approach lighting can be used for visual and instrument landings.

“The SSALR system enhances visibility and safety, matching the approach system at the opposite end on Runway 13,” Cuneo summarizes.

Other airfield upgrades include new circuit interleaving of the existing Runway 13 SSALR system and eight new constant current regulators at the airport Field Electrical Center (FEC).

“The electrical work involved laying about 15,000 meters of airfield lighting cable starting at the FEC and throughout the airfield,” Cuneo says of the expansive system.

Obvious Improvement

Since the recent upgrades, YQR’s brightly lit airfield can be seen off Lewvan Drive, the main road approaching the airport.

The airport upgraded its approach lighting system to enhance safety and operational efficiency.

“This lighting system essentially required us to install additional strobe lighting deeper into the community,” Bogusz explains. “This allows pilots to basically have a better visual distance when landing at YQR than they’ve ever had before on the south side of a runway.”

All in all, the cutting-edge combination of lighting upgrades is designed to allow pilots more opportunities to use both sides of YQR’s main runway for landings. This is true in all conditions, but factors in more prevalently when there is inclement weather including snow and wind.

“We get a massive amount of wind in Regina,” says Clouthier of the very flat and gusty airport. “And in the wintertime, we can have windstorms that really create havoc for planes that are landing. Having this new lighting system is just a great feature from a safety perspective for the airport.”

Bogusz concurs: “That is really what this is all about—helping to improve the usability of that main runway. It was good before, and now I would say it is great. Just that extra little bit makes a big difference.”