The Northwest Regional Airport’s terminal expansion may not even be officially opened yet, but already the facility is looking toward its next major project.
And that’s a re-paving of its main runway, called 15/33, which is 7,500 feet long and 150 feet wide.
The work is scheduled to start as early as next month with completion targeted at eight weeks.
Airport general manager Carman Hendry said the airport received approval to put the project out to tender in the spring with the good news that the federal government will help pay for the work through a pool of money meant for airport capital projects.
“We have the financing available to us for this,” he said.
“The federal government will contribute 55 per cent of the project [cost] through its Airport Capital Assistance Program.”
The airport will be responsible for the remaining 45 per cent with its governing society expecting to cover that cost through its general revenues.
“We’re doing to do our best not to borrow any money,” Hendry said.
A project cost has yet to be determined because the closing date for bids is tomorrow.
Hendry added that the timing falls in line with rehabilitation requirements as the last major repaving program was in 2001.
The main runway used to be 6,000 feet long but an additional 1,500 feet was added in mid-2005 at a cost of $3 million, a price tag helped along by a $2 million federal/provincial grant.
“And we did that in anticipation of larger aircraft or aircraft needing more runway, such as the Q-400,” said Hendry of the Bombardier model aircraft used by Air Canada and Westjet.
The successful contractor will have to do the repaving work at night because the airport will be open for regular flight operations during the day.
The current general contract expectation is for the runway to be closed between midnight and 9:30 a.m. and, at a minimum, between midnight and 5:20 a.m.
Hendry said the airlines have agreed to use the airport’s second and shorter runway, 03-21, for first departures in the morning.
And at night, 15-33 will be available for emergencies pending 90 minutes notice to clear it of work vehicles.
The repaving will consist of a complete overlay of the entire 7,500 foot length with the original 6,000 feet of asphalt being ground up and mixed with new material and then laid down before the overlay is placed.
