Bids for airport runway extension to be opened June 29
♦ The project will add 1,200 feet to the main north/south runway.
Bids for the long anticipated runway extension at Richard B. Russell Airport are scheduled to be opened Friday, June 29 at the Floyd County Administrative office building on East First Street. The runway project is being funded by an earmark of approximately $5.7 million in the 2013 SPLOST package.
Airport manager Mike Mathews won’t be around to see the project to completion since he will be moving to Athens to become director of the Athens-Ben Epps Airport at the end of the first week in July. Airport Commission Chairman Chip Hood is hopeful that he can see the runway completed before his term expires June 30, 2019.
Mathews said the extension, which had been targeted for 1,000 feet, will actually be 1,200 feet long.
“The money that we have and the availability of property gives us the ability to go to 1,200 feet,” Mathews said. The extension will mean that a small portion of Jones Mill Road will have to be closed and longer be a through road.
People will still be able to access the county’s remote dump site and ball fields at Armuchee Park.
“There is a plan in the works to relocate that dump site to relieve some concerns,” said Mathews.
The actual runway construction is expected to start in September or October. Grading of the runway will include a layer of stone and approximately four inches of asphalt. Mathews said that will keep the capability of the airport to handle up to 190,000-pound aircraft, dual-wheel weight, about the same as it is now, but make landings and take-offs much safer.
Mathews recalls an incident some time ago where a corporate pilot discovered that the people he was carrying out of Rome had a lot more baggage than he anticipated and the
people were a good bit heavier than realized. The airport manager said the pilot peeked in to his office and asked if he had 6,500 feet of runway and, of course, Mathews said no. The longest runway the airport has now is just over 6,000 feet.
“He went all the way to the end of the runway and lifted off. I thought he was going to run off the runway,” Mathews said. “(Industrial) prospects when they come to Rome also seem to want 7,000 feet and the insurance carriers want 7,000 feet for their aircraft.”
Environmental work associated with the project has already been accomplished and Mathews said that a localizer associated with the runway extension also has yet to be bid so he is not sure exactly how much of the original
‘He went all the way to the end of the runway and lifted off. I thought he was going to run off the runway.’
Mike Mathews airport manager
SPLOST budget is still available for actual construction. The localizer is half of the equipment needed for instrument landing. It controls the left/right orientation for aircraft on approach.