b'RUNWAYSCYS 61200 aircraft, SkyWest was unable to operate on the second runway. Completing the final $24 million phase of the project on time was crucial because the associated closure meant cancelling two daily SkyWest flightsmore than 300 in all. And tickets for the planned reopening daySept. 10already had been sold.Adding to the pervasive rain and issues with the initial contractor were ongoing concerns about the availability of cement. To comply with new environmental regulations, manufacturers have been producing a more eco-friendly cement that is being used for all types of construction and road projects in Wyoming. Given the states limited construction season, everyone in the region was competing for the cement. The supply is basically rationed out for the year, so that was one of the concerns we were tracking the whole summer, says Fox. But we were fortunate enough not to be impacted by it.Paving Partner Thats All InWith the FAAs required bidding approach, CYS faced another potential challenge: Getting stuck with another underperforming contractor. But that wasnt at all the case. We were very fortunate on the projects last phase to get the lowest bid from a very well-established contractor, IHC Scott, Bradshaw says. And they have performed unbelievably. The Colorado-based civil contracting company earned effusive praise from all levels of the project team.Despite the rain, this contractor worked seven days a weekeven holidays, Bradshaw reports. They worked long hours every day and were right on time.Ive never seen as dedicated a group of people. Its actually just amazing to watch them work, adds Cliff Cox, the airports director of Operations and Maintenance. You can tell companies where the employees feel like theyre taken care ofthey act a lot different on Aviation Director Tim Bradshaw frankly didntthe project. For them to have completedCLIFF COXhave high hopes that things would go well.the work on time with the weather and One of the contractors really did not live upother challenges weve hadits literally a miracle.to expectations, he explains. They were way over budget and way over on time. ThatThat kind of work ethic and commitment was a pleasant contractor wasnt able to perform adequatelycontrast after the previous contractor took off weather day on the job, and were still trying to clean upafter weather day and ended up months behind schedule. some of those issues. TIM BRADSHAW Cox highlights Project Manager Brooke Initially, Bradshaw, tried to work with the FAA and SkyWest,Miller as a particular star among IHC the United Airlines carrier that serves CYS, to use the airportsScotts 30-person crew. I cant say slightly shorter secondary runway, which remained open to generalenough about her, he says. She has aviation and military traffic over the summer. We thought maybemore construction knowledge than most we could remove some of the displaced thresholds or see what40-year-old men, and she can run every else we could do, Bradshaw recalls. But in the end, due to thepiece of equipment out here.areas high altitude and the operational limitations of their CRJBROOKE MILLERAirportImprovement.comNovember | December 2023'