Tulsa airport's 13-year noise-reduction effort nears end
Jan. 12-- On Thursday, the beginning of the end of the Tulsa Airport Improvement Trust's 13-year $73 million aircraft noise mitigation program will be at hand, airport executives say.
TAIT members on Thursday are expected to approve a final, $784,381 contract, to sound-insulate 33 homes south of Tulsa International Airport in a program that began in 2000.
"This is the last contract we will award," said Jeff Hough, deputy airports director of engineering and facilities. "All the construction should be completed by this summer."
TAIT's aircraft noise mitigation program has addressed excessive aircraft noise in 1,711 homes, businesses, schools and churches south and east of the airport over the past decade-plus, officials said.
The local noise mitigation program is part of a national effort to address aircraft noise that is expected to wind down in the next few years as a result of advanced and quieter aircraft engine technology.
The Tulsa airport neighborhood properties experience aircraft noise levels of more than 65 decibels, acoustic studies have shown.
Noise levels of 65 decibels are equivalent to the sound experienced by a person standing next to a busy freeway, Environmental Protection Agency experts say.
The "Noise Exposure and Land Use Compatibility Program" evolved out of Federal Aviation Regulation, Part 150, and related provisions of section 104(a) of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979, which sought to minimize the negative effects of aircraft operations on adjacent properties.
Under the program, property owners in the 65-decibel areas have three options: sound insulation of their homes at an average cost today of about $25,000, 95 percent of which is paid by Federal Aviation Administration grants paired with 5 percent local matching funds; a sales assistance program; or a single monetary payment for a flyover easement.
In the worst affected areas -- where aircraft noise levels can exceed 70 decibels -- the federal program authorizes property purchases.
In the Tulsa program, five properties have been purchased, the buildings have been demolished and the property is being rezoned for commercial or industrial use, airport officials said.
Despite the alternatives, some property owners declined to participate in the program that significantly improves property values at government expense, airport executives said.
"Forty-seven property owners aren't going to take us up on any option at all -- about 2.8 percent of the eligible property owners," Hough said.
Over the course of the program, construction and administrative costs have declined from $35,000 to $40,000 per property to the mid-$20,000 range, airport officials said.
The lower costs have resulted from more efficient administration and construction paired with lower construction bids due to the recession, Hough said.
In the beginning of the program, the project engineer was Cinnabar Service Co. of Tulsa.
In 2005, TAIT selected Syracuse, N.Y.-based C&S Engineers Inc. to replace Cinnabar.
The low bidder on the final 33-home noise insulation contract -- and many other noise insulation contracts in the last few years -- was Superior Insulation Inc. of Wayne, Mich.
Superior's bid is an average per-home construction cost of $23,769.
"We still have some program management work to do" after the sound insulation work is completed, Hough said, "and a construction warranty program will be in effect for one year."
D.R. Stewart 918-581-8451
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