Dec. 09-- A consultant's report recommending $12.68 million in construction and renovations to the west, or general aviation, runway at Tulsa International Airport was accepted Thursday by the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust.

After considering alternatives costing half to six times as much, the consultants said the most sensible course to maintain the 6,101-foot length of the west runway and comply with Federal Aviation Administration mandates is to extend the runway and taxiway 180 feet to the south and construct Engineered Materials Arresting Systems (EMAS) on either end of the runway.

"At just under $13 million, it's not inexpensive by any stretch," said Jeff Hough, deputy airports director of engineering and facilities. "It meets their (FAA) test, and they're all for it."

FAA grants will pay for 95 percent of the cost of the west runway project. The remainder will be matched by local airport funding.

The construction is necessary as a result of a 2005 law that requires U.S. commercial airports to establish runway safety areas by Dec. 31, 2015.

The FAA requires a 1,000-foot-long-by-500-foot-wide Runway Safety Area at each end of U.S. commercial runways.

Both Tulsa International's main 10,000-foot north-south runway and its 7,376-foot east-west, or crosswind, runway have the standard 1,000-foot runway safety areas, officials said.

The west runway, constructed of asphalt, has a flat, object-free 600-foot runway safety area beyond the south end of the runway, while the RSA at the north end extends only 50 feet beyond the end of the pavement.

The report, prepared by Tulsa aviation consultants Barnard Dunkelberg & Co. in consultation with airport staff, tenants and neighbors, recommends that the public roadway, perimeter road and security fence on the south end of the runway remain in their existing locations.

However, the runway would be shifted 180 feet to the south to compensate for the runway length lost on the north end with the installation of the EMAS.

The significant costs and features of the recommended improvements to the west runway include:

--$250,000 for the remarking and relighting of the runway.

--$360,000 to extend the runway and taxiway 180 feet to the south.

--$365,000 for the relocation of glide slope navigation aids.

--$506,500 to relocate the north end connector taxiways and remove pavement.

--$3.7 million to construct the north EMAS bed.

--$7.5 million to construct the south EMAS bed.

The EMAS beds are composed of a bed of customized cellular cement material that is designed to crush under the weight of an aircraft, providing predictable, controlled deceleration, industry documents say.

"Once stopped, (EMAS') unique material allows passengers and crew members to exit the aircraft safely and for the aircraft to be removed from the arresting system easily, with minimal effects," industry documents say.

The EMAS bed on the south end of the runway -- which is the predominate direction of use by aircraft due to prevailing south winds -- will be 365 feet in length and is designed to handle business jets to Boeing 737s at an exit speed of 80.5 mph in an overrun condition, consultants said.

The EMAS bed on the north end of the runway will be 175 feet in length and is designed to handle the range of aircraft, including the Learjet 35, with a 46 mph exit speed during an overrun event, officials said.

Construction of the west runway improvements could take nine months to a year, Hough said.

"We could start the project in the summer of 2014 and complete it in the summer of 2015," Hough said. "It's possible we could do it a year sooner than that."

The Barnard Dunkelberg report was developed after two public information sessions, one on Wednesday evening and another in June, at the airport conference room in the passenger terminal.

D.R. Stewart 918-581-8451

[email protected]

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