Construction Crews To Begin Evansville Regional Airport Runway Work

March 4, 2014
Airport to temporarily shut down to tackle the final phase of runway safety project

March 04--It's taken several years, but this week Evansville Regional Airport will finally get to the heart of its runway relocation project: actual work on the runway.

On Wednesday, the airport plans to temporarily shut down its main runway so that workers can tackle the final phase of a runway safety project.

The project, which was mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration, involves shifting the airport's main runway away from U.S. 41.

During this time, planes will use the airport's secondary runway.

Airport spokeswoman Dianna Page said the move shouldn't have an impact on air travelers.

"It shouldn't affect any of their flight times or anything like that," Page said.

Project engineer is CHA Consulting, and WB Koester Construction is the prime contractor for this phase of the project.

Crews will work 20 hours a day, Monday through Saturday, in an effort to minimize impact on travelers and airlines.

"They'll be working in shifts, so they'll be able to do a lot of the work when we don't have flights coming in and out," Page said.

One thing folks might notice, she said, is a change in flight approaches as planes take off and land. The main runway runs southwest to northeast, and the secondary runway runs north and south.

Crews will remove about 2,400 feet of pavement from the southwest end of the main runway, and build an equal length of pavement to the northeast end.

The result will be a runway that's farther away from U.S. 41, giving pilots a longer stretch of usable pavement. Currently, pilots approaching the airport from the southwest cannot use the runway's full length because of obstructions on that approach to the runway.

The move will also eliminate the current intersection between the main and secondary runways.

This is the final piece of a project that's been years in the making.

The FAA gave its approval to Evansville's planned runway shift in 2010. Before work could begin on the runway, though, crews had to do extensive roadwork, and relocate a rail line and utilities to make room for the runway's new position.

That work included reconfiguring a portion of Indiana 57; removing the Oak Hill Road/Indiana 57 intersection; and building a new section of Oak Hill. That new section runs parallel to Hedden Road between Kansas and Millersburg roads, with traffic circles at both intersections.

The airport says the main runway should be back in use as soon as Aug. 1.

Total estimated cost is $67 million, of which 90 percent is federally funded and 10 percent comes from state and local funds.

The original cost estimate was $60 million, but Page said several construction change orders -- unexpected things that came up along the way -- boosted the overall cost. The FAA had given Evansville until the end of 2015 to complete the project.

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