Jun. 19--It has been nearly two years since a plane accompanying President Bush on his campaign landed at the Las Cruces International Airport and caused considerable runway damage before it left.
Runway 4-22, one of three at the airport, has been closed ever since because of a series of 2-inch-deep wheel ruts in the pavement.
Though months have passed, airport officials say progress is being made toward the repair.
The Las Cruces City Council in October accepted $604,000 from the U.S. Air Force, a settlement for the damages.
Airport Manager Lisa L. Murphy said that likely won't cover the cost of the repair, which will entail stripping and repaving the 7,500-foot-long runway.
"It will probably cost about $800,000 altogether," she said.
Before the damage, city officials had planned to resurface the runway.
Murphy said the city council just awarded a bid to an engineering firm for design of the project, and after that it must select a contractor. She's hoping the work will be complete in a year.
Murphy, who wasn't manager for the airport when the damage occurred, said the repair has been long-awaited. Though 4-22 isn't the main runway, she said, it's important because it's used by planes when winds blow from a certain direction.
"I'm very glad we're getting our runway fixed," she said.
The runway was damaged in late August 2004, when Bush stopped in Las Cruces for a campaign visit. City engineers concluded a C-17 cargo plane created the ruts after it backed up on the runway in preparation for departure. The heat of the day had softened the pavement, and the plane was loaded with equipment and vehicles -- both factors that led to the damage.
Two other large planes, including Air Force One, landed and took off the same day, though they didn't cause damage.
City officials said they'd warned the Air Force and Bush's campaign that the runway wasn't capable of handling such large planes, but they landed anyway.
Bush's campaign at the time referred all questions about the incident to the Air Force. A military spokesman said the entourage had permission to land.
Doug Newton, manager of Adventure Aviation, a business that provides fuel service to planes, said the repair is important to the facility. The runway will play an important part in the X Prize Cup, which hosts events at the airport each fall, he said.
