Work Begins At Bentonville Airport

STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF Crews move dirt Wednesday while working on of safety-related runway improvement at Bentonville Municipal Airport. The airport will be closed between 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on weekdays for three months for the construction.
STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF Crews move dirt Wednesday while working on of safety-related runway improvement at Bentonville Municipal Airport. The airport will be closed between 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on weekdays for three months for the construction.

— The municipal airport will be closed for seven and a half hours every week day for the next three months so runway improvements can be made.

Work started March 17, Brian Maurer with Morrison Shipley told the Airport Advisory Board during its March meeting last week.

The runway safety area is being improved to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements.

The runway safety area is 150 feet wide from the center of the runway. The slopes on each side have to be 5 percent within the first 10 feet of the runway and between 1.5 and 3 percent after that, explained Ben Peters, city engineer who oversees the airport.

The improvement project includes correcting the slopes' angles and building a retaining wall at the north end where the runway bumps against Lake Bentonville. The retaining wall will help get the slopes at the correct angles, Peters said.

The airport will cease operations from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. while work is done, Maurer said. Crews can still work on the retaining wall after 2:30 p.m.

The project is expected to take 90 days .

TNT Inc. is doing the work. March 17 and 18 were spent moving the north threshold, said Maurer. The rest of the week was spent on preparation work for the retaining wall, he said.

"And they've have done a little bit of (runway safety area) excavation," he added. "Mainly stripping topsoil to store and put back."

Dave Powell of Summit Aviation sent a text message to Peters saying he was unable to attend the Advisory Board meeting. Powell said he estimated his company will lose $15,000 a month during construction. Summit Aviation is based at the airport.

A message left for Powell wasn't returned before deadline.

The project will cost $612,998. Ninety percent, or $551,698, is being paid for through a FAA grant, $30,649 is covered by an Arkansas Department of Aeronautics grant and the city is responsible for $30,649.

The project was awarded to TNT in April while the city anticipated receiving the FAA money in July. The grant wasn't received until the fall, delaying the project's start.

Board members and airport officials have been discussing for months the best way to do the work while having the least financial impact on the airport's business.

NW News on 03/27/2014

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