Coordinating a series of projects on the runways and taxiways at the state's largest airport is requiring an intricate dance to keep them open and still get the work completed.
Still, the work will force the shutdown of two of the three runways at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field beginning next month, a situation that Tom Clarke, the airport's properties, development and planning director, said he hasn't encountered in his seven years at Clinton National.
Such work on the airfield doesn't gain much attention compared with more high-profile projects, such as the $67 million makeover of the passenger terminal. Its completion in 2013 was marked by a formal ceremony at which time the airport's name was changed from Little Rock National. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended.
The airport also is in the midst of another high-profile project -- the renovation of the 12-gate concourse. The renovation and other improvements, including the replacement of several passenger boarding bridges and an estimated 800 seats with models equipped with charging stations, total about $20 million.
Together, however, those projects don't add up to the nearly $119 million the airport has spent or is scheduled to spend on runways and taxiways and their surrounding areas since 2005, according to Barbara Wright, the capital finance manager at Clinton National.
"When most people think about the airport, they think about the terminal and parking lots," said Ron Mathieu, the airport's executive director. "This is the part that we get heavily involved with that people normally don't think about. This is the part, if we do our jobs right, people never have to think about.
"This is the most important thing because without the runways and the surfaces being properly maintained, you don't have an airport."
The airfield improvements typically are paid using a mix of Federal Aviation Administration airport improvement program funds, money from Arkansas Department of Aeronautics grants and airport-generated revenue.
The work has included about $40 million in projects associated with the extension of one of the two commercial service runways and the general-aviation runway.
One of the projects included extending the safety area of Runway 4R/22L by 1,000 feet to the Arkansas River. The $2.3 million project replaced an "arresting" system that was installed after the crash of American Airlines Flight 1420 in 1999. The crash killed the pilot and 10 passengers.
The system is designed to "catch" aircraft that overrun runways. The system was removed after the safety area was extended because the FAA said the safety area made it unnecessary and wouldn't pay for it.
The airport also has spent $12.7 million to renovate the airport's fire station and build an airfield maintenance building that houses all of the equipment to maintain the runways.
The airport has spent $7.7 million on general aviation projects, according to the data Wright compiled. Other money has gone toward rehabilitating taxiways, improving airfield drainage, and lighting and sign improvements.
"All of this is intended to maintain the integrity of the airfield and to make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure safe operations at the airport," Mathieu said.
The Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission, which oversees the airport, gave the go-ahead to the latest project last month.
The commission approved a $1.6 million contract for Clark Power Corp., a Little Rock electrical contractor, to install in-pavement runway centerline lighting on Runway 4R/22L, which is one of the airport's two commercial service runways and is on the east side of the airfield.
The project also includes cleaning and resealing 166,000 linear feet of joints in the concrete pavement of the runway, which is 8,251 feet long and 150 feet wide.
The project also involves replacing 164 incandescent lights in the runway centerline with more energy-efficient LED lights and installing 34,630 linear feet of cable to connect the lights to an electrical vault. The contractor also will remove and replace 175,000 square feet of runway and taxiway markings.
The contract calls for the project to be completed within 75 days under an "overcome all clause" contract, the first contract at Clinton National to invoke that requirement. It is expected to begin next month.
"The clause "allows [the contractor] to work on weekends, to work on holidays, whatever it takes to deliver that project in 75 days," Clarke said.
By the time the project begins and closes Runway 4R/22L, the other commercial runway, 4L/22R, will be open for business again. For now, two large lighted X's are stationed at both ends of the runway, the universal sign to pilots that the runway is closed.
The runway has been closed because of work on Taxiway Bravo, part of a larger $20 million project to rehabilitate taxiways on the west, or general aviation, side of the field to handle larger aircraft. Clinton National often is used as a diversion airport for Federal Express aircraft when weather in Memphis, where the delivery company is based, precludes it from landing there.
The work on Taxiway Bravo, which features a high-speed exit from Runway 4L/22R, included work on the runway's shoulder, necessitating its closure to aircraft.
"The shoulder -- it is inside the runway safety area," Clarke said. "Anytime you're working inside a runway safety area, you have to close that runway."
The work now will shift east to Taxiway Alpha and Taxiway Kilo and encroach on the safety area of Runway 18/36, requiring it to be closed, likely around Aug. 1, according to Adam Roberson, an engineer for Garver LLC who is overseeing the project.
Runway 4R/22L likely will be closed in mid-August for the centerline lighting project, he said.
That will leave only Runway 4L/22R available for takeoffs and landings for a few weeks. But airport officials say the effect on aircraft operations will be minimal. They say the work won't affect airline traffic, and they point to other major airports that rely on a single runway, such as LaGuardia in New York City and San Diego International.
"Commercial service customers shouldn't have any impact," Clarke said. "We have sufficient aviation capacity with a single runway.
"Our general aviation customers will potentially see some slight delays because you'll have more traffic on the one runway. You might have a little more wait time for an arrival or departure."
Metro on 07/03/2016