Wolfgang Kurtz | The Seward Phoenix LOG
Carl High, DOT’s Kenai Peninsula District superintendent and DOT Regional Hydrologist Paul Janke (right) discuss the airport predicament while behind them the Resurrection River spills over runway 13/31.
The City of Seward administration has publicly weighed in on repeated flooding of Seward Airport and the recent closure of Seward’s main airport runway by the Alaska Department of Transportation. As reported by City Manager Jim Hunt at Monday’s city council meeting, both he and Assistant City Manager Ron Long granted at least a television interview apiece over the past week.
In addition to the exposure of the situation via Anchorage media, Hunt says that contact with Rep. Mike Chenault has elevated the awareness of the importance of getting the airport back online and solving the flooding issue. Councilor Marianna Keil mentioned that she communicated with legislators Chenault and Sen. Cathy Giessel and that they signified their awareness of the situation and the need to have it addressed immediately.
One of the factors prioritizing dealing with the airport situation in the short term is the use of the facility for medevac operations. Another is the loss of business which, according to Seward Air’s Denny Hamilton, may put him out of business if it continues much longer. Seward Air, among other services, is the only fuel provider on the airport premises. Hamilton says that the fuel business is a significant underwriter of the rest of his business and presently he’s out close to $100,000 in lost sales.
In June, DOT tested the main runway pavement and determined that it should not be used by aircraft heavier than 12,500 pounds which limits the facility to just small planes. Since then, it has been reopened when it was not flooded and DOT has maintained that the current situation is under study and that the airport is not closed. However, depending on how saturated or undermined the entire area is, use of the short runway may also be restricted and the longer runway closed permanently.
During a visit to the airport by DOT personnel on Aug. 8, Carl High, DOT’s Kenai Peninsula District superintendent and DOT Regional Hydrologist Paul Janke were confronted by another flooding episode. As they waited for a helicopter ride, the Resurrection River washed across the nearby runway. High said that they were there to get the big picture and perform aerial surveys.
Janke asserted that, according to current budgeting and departmental priorities, there would likely be no money for projects at the Seward Airport until 2016. Pending completion of a formal study by DOT, the present conversation lays out a combination of fixes required to permanently address the airport’s problems including dredging the river and armoring the river bank as well as replacing fill materials under portions of the pavement and, overall, raising the elevation of the runways.
Before the recent restrictions by DOT, the airport’s runways had essentially no weight limits and had supported traffic in the past including large and heavy planes such as 100,000-pound DC-6s loaded with outbound Seward Fisheries seafood shipments. The airport also was open to use by medium size commercial jets such as the 737’s typically used for flights between smaller Alaska communities.
Story and Photo: http://www.thesewardphoenixlog.com
