READY TO FLY
Airport reopens Thursday night
Work at the airport has progressed ahead of schedule and it will reopen Thursday at 10 p.m.
“We’re on time, on schedule and under budget,” said airport manager Jeff Huntus. “We’re on schedule (to open) for 10 p.m. Thursday night.”
“That first flight will come in just after midnight,” said Carlie Collier, project engineer, municipal works.
On May 7 at 7 a.m. the airport runways were closed and construction work commenced to rehabilitate the main runway and taxiway pavement surfaces. Work has been taking place 24/7 with completion expected by the end of May, with the airport originally set to re-open June 1.
The airport runway was built in 1964 and has not had a major resurfacing in more than 20 years. This project was expected to cost $12.9 million to be covered by a federal grant.
“They granted us $12.9 million and we got a tender for $11.9 million so I guess we’re under budget,” said Huntus. “Everything has gone pretty much as we anticipated.”
The painting of lines on the main runway was in progress Tuesday. Significant survey work was required to ensure the placement of those lines meets Transport Canada’s requirements. In about 30 days a second coat will have to be applied. This will be done near the end of June, at night, so it will not impact any flights, said Collier.
Still to be done at the airport is another catch basin ring being installed on Thursday morning, said Huntus, who does not expect the forecasted rain to have an impact on what still needs to be accomplished. After that some general cleanup will take place.
Huntus credits the success of the project to good planning.
“I think it was probably 95 per cent good planning by our consultants, by our city project management team, and as with any project when you’ve got a tight timeline I would attribute five per cent to luck,” said Huntus, noting the project will serve the city well for the next 20 years.
Contractors have also done a fine job working to a tight schedule and there have been no surprises, said Huntus.
There was one main contractor and at least six sub-contractors, and anywhere from 10 to 100 people on site.
On Wednesday there will be a final inspection followed by a cleanup and removal of barriers, said Collier, who agrees good, advance planning was the secret to a successful project. It also required careful co-ordination to ensure equipment and supplies were in place when needed.
Top soil was used to make the grass verges flush with the main runway and re-seeding of this area has been done to return it to the condition it was in before work commenced, said Collier.
While the airport runway has been closed, helicopters could still operate at the airport and some businesses have also been operating.
The Alberta fixed-wing air ambulance service has continued to operate using STARS helicopters for critically-ill patients to be transported out of Medicine Hat.
The fixed-wing air ambulance has been operating for urgent cases, sending an aircraft down from Calgary to Bow Island where patients were taken by road ambulance.