Tampa International Airport to close runway for maintenance

TAMPA — Tampa International Airport will close its main runway for maintenance for a month beginning Sept. 23, diverting landings and takeoffs to the airport’s east parallel runway that could create more noise over South Tampa residential areas.

The repair work is routine maintenance that must be done every 15 years, an airport release said.

In addition to work on the primary runway on the west side of the airport adjacent to the Veteran’s Expressway, crews will perform concrete maintenance on other parts of the airfield, including a section of a lightly used east-west runway and two taxiways.

The main runway is 11,002 feet long, compared with the parallel 8,300 foot runway on the east side of the terminal. It is made up of 17-inch thick, high-strength concrete on 6 inches of low-strength concrete and a 6-inch crushed stone base.

“During the maintenance period, which we expect to end on or about Oct. 23, people who live and work around the airport will notice an increase in aircraft noise throughout the day,” the release said.

When the runway maintenance work ends in late October, aircraft operations will resume on the main runway except between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. when work will continue on a Federal Aviation Administration equipment upgrade on the airfield.

Aircraft traffic during those hours also will be diverted to the east runway through mid-November, when the FAA project should be completed. 

Source:   http://tbo.com