New runway lined up for LR Air Force Base

$107.9 million project to replace 1950s strip

Little Rock Air Force Base is preparing its airfield for a multiyear plan to replace the base's only runway, a project that comes with a price tag of $107.9 million.

The Department of Defense announced Wednesday that Arizona-based Sundt Construction Inc. beat out one other bidder to win a $107,899,999 contract to design and build the runway, which will replace the original that was constructed in the late 1950s.

Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville has the world's largest fleet of C-130 aircraft and lays claim to being the busiest single runway in the Air Force, partly because it is home to the 314th Airlift Wing, an active-duty unit that trains C-130 crews from the United States and 47 allied nations.

According to AirNav.com, there are, on average, 168 takeoffs and landings on the 2.3-mile runway every day.

"It's definitely taken a toll," said Leon Iveson, project manager for the replacement. "There's a lot of aircrew training, so it's in use day in, day out."

The Little Rock District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is managing the project, which is being funded through the Air Force's operations and maintenance fund. Iveson, an Army Corps of Engineers employee, said he has overseen minor repairs to the runway during the past few years, but this project is its first major overhaul.

"There's been work done through the years to fix some issues, but those have all been Band-Aid fixes," Iveson said. "Just like an interstate, you can only patch it up so many times before it needs [to be] replaced. This is going to be a repair by replacement."

Iveson said the concrete runway has had cracks and other damage because of nearby tributaries that flow into Cypress Branch or Jacks Bayou. According to a public notice of the project released in July, approximately an acre of wetlands -- including the tributaries -- will be permanently filled in to keep water away from the runway and reduce damage. In addition, the runway will be elevated and existing culverts will be expanded.

Though the public had until Aug. 18 to voice any objections, the Corps of Engineers received no substantive comments opposing the project. According to the notice, the wetlands that would be affected are "low value," and the area normally dries up in the summer.

While the runway is being replaced, radio navigation aids and lighting on the base's airfield will be upgraded to current standards, Iveson said.

The new runway will have the same capabilities as the original, Iveson said, though its dimensions will change from 12,000-by-200 feet to 12,000-by-100 feet.

"They just don't need that extra room," he said. "The runway was built back in the '50s for bomber-type aircraft, and they don't need that size any more."

Construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed in April of 2017.

The 12,000-foot runway will be replaced in a "phased approach," Iveson said. While one 6,000-foot section is under construction, the other will be operational.

According to Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of the base's C-130s, the shortest runway allowable for training is 3,000 feet.

"There has been lots of planning to avoid any disruption in their training," Iveson said. "There have been lots of meetings, and the Air Force has been very involved in the design to make sure of that."

Spokesman Arlo Taylor said Thursday that no one with the 19th Airlift Wing, Little Rock Air Force Base's host unit, was available to comment further about how operations will be handled during the construction.

Other units contacted also couldn't comment and referred questions back to Taylor.

The replacement, which has been in the works for more than a year, will start once the Corps of Engineers approves Sundt Construction's design and plans, Iveson said.

That process is expected to take about a month.

A section on 09/05/2014

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