b'26 AVLRUNWAYSFACTS&FIGURESAsheville Regional EnduresProject: Replacement Runway; Parallel TaxiwayLocation: Asheville (NC) Regional Airport Multiple Delays in RunwayProject Name: SOAR - Significant Opportunity for Aviation and the RegionReplacement Project BY JENNIFER DAACK WOOLSONScope: Reconstruct primary runway (new pavement, drainage, mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall system, airfield electrical systems, NAVAIDs) & correct multiple modifications ofConstruction projects are often allAs bad as the runway surface was, it standards; construct temporary runway that nowabout numbers, and recent airfieldwasnt the only problem. The runways serves as permanent parallel taxiwayCost: $115 million improvements at Asheville Regionalelectrical system also needed repairs, and, Airport (AVL) in North Carolina has somemore importantly, AVL needed to bring the Funding Sources: FAA Airport Improvementdoozies.runway up to current safety requirements. Program; NCDOT Division of Aviation, Airport Funds Pressing needs included fixing a line-of-sight Design: Began in 2011 The four-phase project to replace a 50-plus-year-old runway was supposed toissue caused by a hump in the runway and Construction: 2014-2021 take five years. Instead, construction issuesincreasing runway-taxiway separation to Engineer of Record: AVCON Engineers added three years and $40 million to thecomply with updated FAA regulations.& Planners Inc. original budget. When airport officials proposed the runway Construction & Program Manager: The final projecta new replacementreplacement project to FAA, the agency RS&H, Inc. initially suggested shutting down the airfield Temporary Runway Site Prep: Thallerunway and a second parallel taxiwaywasfor six to nine months during construction. It Construction Co. Inc. completed in 2021. was a legitimate proposal to some degree, Temporary Runway Paving, Lighting &Adding furtherBleiweis says. But when we talked to the NAVAIDs: Harrison Construction Corp. perspective, Executiveairlines, they basically told us if they would Permanent Runway Site Prep &Director Lew Bleiweis,have to pull out of the market for six to nine NAVAIDs: GLF Construction Corp. AAE, notes that the originalmonths, they were not coming back.Permanent Runway Paving, Lighting need for improvements & NAVAIDs: Harrison Construction Corp. / surfaced in 2008 whenTemporary Runway LeadsYoung & McQueenpavement condition testingLEW BLEIWEIS to Permanent SolutionMajor Lighting Supplier: ADB SAFEGATE confirmed that the airportsBleiweis reported back to the FAA that the Asphalt Supplier: Harrison Construction Corp. single runway was on a rapid path toward failingairlines providing service to the airport at the Retaining Wall Manufacturer: Tensar within a few years.time (AirTran Airways, American, Continental, July | August 2022AirportImprovement.com'