The main runway at the Yuma Municipal Airport was shut down for one week due to the concrete buckling significantly.
The city issued a notice with the flying community two weeks ago that there was serious damage to the runway. It then was closed November 19 to fix the cracks, and was reopened at 10 a.m. this past Monday, November 26.
The main runway is set to be completely replaced in 2015. City Manager Doug Sanderson discussed with the Yuma City Council during its regular meeting last week, November 20, if there was interest in putting more toward concrete repairs in 2013 instead of the regularly-scheduled project.
He explained there have been cracks along the edge of the runway that frequently require being filled. However, in just about one week's time (the runway is inspected on a fairly frequent basis) major damage appeared toward the center of the runway, making it a possible danger for planes.
In some cases, the concrete buckled several inches. Moisture seeps down through small cracks that cover a large overall area of the entire runway's concrete surface. The runway is 5-inches thick concrete that sits atop an 8-inch base of gravel aggregates. Sanderson explained that, like a roadway, those concrete 'panels' or sections measure about 12-13 foot square. The moisture gets into the 'base' material and freezes and expands going into winter and during the spring thawing process. That causes the concrete panels to move around at the surface, like plate tectonics, and buckle above and/or below other panels when they collide.
Representatives for the Federal Aviation Administration and the city's consultant met with Sanderson two weeks ago. The runway was inspected, and the decision was made to close it down to get fixed.
Sanderson reported the situation to the council last week, and asked if the council was interested in forgoing the installation of an automated weather station, which is what is scheduled for 2013 at the airport.
There was talk by council members of pushing back the weather station project to 2016. However, Sanderson said he felt the city could continue fixing the cracks as they appeared for an estimated $25,000 or so over the next couple of years, while still getting in the weather station as scheduled next year. Sanderson said he would personally inspect the runway weekly.
“If we need to close the runway several times to repair it, we'll do it,” he said.
“When the airport runway is open, it will be safe. If it costs us $25,000 to $50,000, we can handle it.”
It was noted, though, that it could get even worse and develop into a $100,000 problem.
The grant deadline for FAA funding in 2013 is not until January 19. Therefore, the council decided to give it a month or so to see how the runway holds up before making a final decision in regards to using the FAA grant for concrete work rather than the automated weather station, which local pilots have been pushing for several years.
Sanderson reminded the Pioneer that the airport projects in 2010 and 2011 involved replacing numerous concrete panels that had been nearly destroyed by large cracking and movement.
“(The) City is absolutely committed to aviation and public safety,” Sanderson told the Pioneer. “(The) City will conduct more frequent runway inspections, will be more aggressive in its runway crack-fill operations, and will of course take any and all measures (including runway closure) ....
Read more : http://www.yumapioneer.com
http://www.airnav.com/airport/2V6
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment