Runway project gets $19.5 million

— Officials at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport said Monday that a new $19.5 million federal grant will accelerate a badly needed runway project at the state’s second-largest airport.

The U.S. Department of Transportation grant will help pay for the $40 million replacement of the main runway, which has developed cracks in the past several years. It is the largest grant in the 14-year-history of the airport in Benton County.

“This was really great news,” said Kelly Johnson, the director of the airport at Highfill.

It means the airport will be able to demolish and rebuild its primary 8,800-foot runway in one phase, as opposed tostretching the project out over years, Johnson said.

The airport had expected the grant to be just $10 million and had thought it wouldn’t be given until late this year, Johnson said.

“It was a really huge bonus for us,” she said.

The grant was announced Friday by members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation in a news release.

The Transportation Department also announced a separate $10 million grant for the project in August, and the airport received a similar $10 million grant last year, which helped pay for engineering and drainage projects before construction on the new runway could start.

That brings the total grants for the project to $39.5 million.

An alternate runway that opened on July 23 will be used for flights until the primary runway project is completed in late 2013.

The top layer of the primary runway, 15 inches of Portland cement, will have to be replaced, as will its concrete base, drainage system and electrical system.

The runway, in use lessthan 14 years, had been expected to last about 25 years.

The airport was prepared to draw down its reserves to pay for the new runway, Scott Van Laningham, the airport’s executive director, told the Finance Committee of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority on Monday.

“The support of everyone in Washington is much appreciated,” Van Laningham said, citing U.S. Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and John Boozman, R-Ark., and 3rd District U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark.

“We’re tickled to death,” he said.

The primary runway, which is 150 feet wide, was installed when the airport opened in October 1998. But as early as 2005 airport officials identified problems with the concrete.

A chemical reaction known as alkali-silica reactivity has cracked the pavement, Johnson said.

The reaction forms a microscopic gray gel that expands into spider-like cracks. The condition has plagued several airports across the country, Johnson said.

Airport officials accepted a $26.2 million contract in May to demolish and rebuild the runway surface. The bid was awarded to The Harper Co. of Hebron, Ky.

The alternate runway is the same length as the primary strip and is 100 feet wide with25-foot load-bearing asphalt shoulders, Johnson said.

Air travelers probably won’t notice much change, Johnson said. All flights have been switched to the alternate and will continue there until the new runway is finished.

Eventually, the alternate runway will become a muchneeded taxiway, Johnson said. Its use should shorten airplane taxi times and openup more airport property to development, she said.

The $19.5 million “takes a lot of the insecurity out of the project,” said Philip Taldo, chairman of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority’s Finance Committee.

Also at the meeting Monday, the Finance Committee considered a plan to refinance a 2010 bond issue.

The committee approved the airport going forward with negotiations with Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Bank to take over the airport’s debt on a 2010 bond issue.

Under the proposal, the bank would lend the airport about $30 million to pay off current bondholders and the airport would pay back Regions at a fixed rate over 15 years.

“We figured it is time to take advantage of these historically low interest rates and fix the rate,” Van Laningham said.

Finance Committee member Stan Green said he thinks the proposal is a good idea.

“I think it’s the right thing to do,” Green said. “It makes a lot of sense.”

Business, Pages 19 on 09/18/2012

Upcoming Events