A more than $2 million improvement project will get underway soon for the runway of the Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport.
The Lawton Constitution reports airport officials are making plans to launch a $2.34 million renovation project that will seal cracks and joints, replace bad portions of pavement and install an underground drainage system the length of the runway.
Airport Director Barbara McNally said the final step in the process is formal notification that the airport has received a $2,404,891 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, which is covering the entire cost of the project (airport improvements typically include a provision for local matching funds). McNally said the work cannot begin until the airport receives formal notification of the grant receipt, and federal legislators have said that notification is due soon.
The City Council, the “sponsoring” entity for the airport’s governing board (Lawton Metropolitan Area Airport Authority) approved the grant agreement last week.
“After that, we will forward,” McNally said, explaining bids have been opened and an evaluation by the airport engineer recommends the low bidder, GCC Enterprises of Dallas, which set a $2,342,099 price.
The airport authority will consider approving that bid at its September meeting, with an anticipated construction start date in October.
But, McNally said work must be done before then, to include dirt work to level out one end of the taxiway.
“What we’ve got is very unlevel,” she said, adding an environmental assessment on the site is set for Monday.
With completion of that work and formal acceptance of the contractor by the airport authority, airport officials have tentative plans for a pre-construction conference at the beginning of October, with a construction start time to follow.
McNally said the contractor will work to convert the main taxiway into a runway, which will serve as a temporary runway during the 60-day period the “real” runway is closed for upgrades. While crack and joint sealing, along with replacement of some damaged concrete panels is important, a major component of the project is installation of underdrains the length of the runway, on both sides.
The drainage system is crucial because it addresses a cracking problem that prompted the airport to close its runway to heavy aircraft between February and October 2016. At the time, a preliminary engineering study indicated the weight of “heavies,” or heavy aircraft, was cracking the pavement and the airport closed its runway to all heavy aircraft except for emergency situations. That continued until an in-depth engineering analysis found the problem actually was groundwater ponding under the runway.
The underdrains will connect to existing inlets and drain groundwater away from the concrete runway.
“It will solve all those problems,” McNally said.
Designating the main taxiway as a runway will prompt some aviation changes.
McNally said American Eagle will bring in smaller aircraft to handle commercial flights for the duration of the runway project, and most general aviation aircraft will be able to use the taxiway. But, the taxiway/runway won’t be able to accommodate training flights from Sheppard Air Force Base because the ILS (instrument landing system) will be turned off, and larger aircraft used for military movements will be relocated to Oklahoma City.
All those flights will return to Lawton with completion of the runway upgrade, McNally said, adding the airport will miss the revenue that has been generated by selling aviation fuel to larger aircraft. Those sales have helped offset revenue loss from airport tenants who have lost customers and sales because of changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
McNally said earlier this year that while the project is necessary because it will prevent further water damage of the concrete runway, that structure is not deteriorating.
“The runway still is in good shape,” she said, adding the results of the structural analysis showed the concrete runway was deeper “than we knew.”
Source: Lawton Constitution
