Published: Saturday, September 12, 2009
Paine Field paving fixed; runway reopens
EVERETT — A repaving project gone wrong has been righted and the main runway at Paine Field is open again.
The 9,100-foot runway opened about 2 p.m. Friday after being closed for a week. That’s three days longer than the closure originally planned for the runway.
The $11 million repaving project was funded by federal economic stimulus money. It’s possible that wet weather prevented a 5,700-foot section of fresh asphalt on the runway from settling properly, said officials with Snohomish County, which owns and operates the airport.
It’s far from certain, however.
“At this point we still don’t have a definitive answer,” said Peter Camp, who handles land-use issues for County Executive Aaron Reardon. “Everyone’s been really focused on solving the problem.”
It’s also not yet known how much the extra work will cost or who will pay.
Granite Construction Co., based in Watsonville, Calif., did the work. The company is one of the country’s largest heavy civil contractors. The company is insured and provided a bond, as required by contract, county spokesman Christopher Schwarzen said.
A spokeswoman for Granite Construction said the cause of the problem hasn’t been determined on the company’s end, either.
“We’ve just been actively working out there,” spokeswoman Jacqueline Fourchy said Thursday.
A different type of asphalt was used to repair the problem section, Camp said.
“The contractor offered a different mix that was an upgrade in terms of its susceptibility to weather,” Camp said.
The runway is used primarily by Boeing and Aviation Technical Services, which provides maintenance, repair and overhaul of jet aircraft. Smaller private planes are able to use Paine Field’s other two runways, which are shorter.
The shutdown for the paving began at 9 p.m. Sept. 3, a day earlier than planned. Boeing was prepared for the closure but has had to juggle some of its operations because of the extra three days, spokesman Peter Conte said.
“We have had to adjust some of our internal schedules with some of the planes scheduled for delivery,” he said.
The federal stimulus money paid for resurfacing most of the airport’s main runway and the south portion of a parallel taxiway. Work started this summer.
Another $7.9 million in Federal Aviation Administration grant money is paying to resurface the north part of the taxiway.
The runway was last repaved in 1996. The taxiway was last repaved 25 years ago.
Another part of the project, putting grooves in the runway and installing center runway lights, is under way and is expected to be done in November, Schwarzen said. Paving in other areas also is moving ahead as scheduled.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
The 9,100-foot runway opened about 2 p.m. Friday after being closed for a week. That’s three days longer than the closure originally planned for the runway.
The $11 million repaving project was funded by federal economic stimulus money. It’s possible that wet weather prevented a 5,700-foot section of fresh asphalt on the runway from settling properly, said officials with Snohomish County, which owns and operates the airport.
It’s far from certain, however.
“At this point we still don’t have a definitive answer,” said Peter Camp, who handles land-use issues for County Executive Aaron Reardon. “Everyone’s been really focused on solving the problem.”
It’s also not yet known how much the extra work will cost or who will pay.
Granite Construction Co., based in Watsonville, Calif., did the work. The company is one of the country’s largest heavy civil contractors. The company is insured and provided a bond, as required by contract, county spokesman Christopher Schwarzen said.
A spokeswoman for Granite Construction said the cause of the problem hasn’t been determined on the company’s end, either.
“We’ve just been actively working out there,” spokeswoman Jacqueline Fourchy said Thursday.
A different type of asphalt was used to repair the problem section, Camp said.
“The contractor offered a different mix that was an upgrade in terms of its susceptibility to weather,” Camp said.
The runway is used primarily by Boeing and Aviation Technical Services, which provides maintenance, repair and overhaul of jet aircraft. Smaller private planes are able to use Paine Field’s other two runways, which are shorter.
The shutdown for the paving began at 9 p.m. Sept. 3, a day earlier than planned. Boeing was prepared for the closure but has had to juggle some of its operations because of the extra three days, spokesman Peter Conte said.
“We have had to adjust some of our internal schedules with some of the planes scheduled for delivery,” he said.
The federal stimulus money paid for resurfacing most of the airport’s main runway and the south portion of a parallel taxiway. Work started this summer.
Another $7.9 million in Federal Aviation Administration grant money is paying to resurface the north part of the taxiway.
The runway was last repaved in 1996. The taxiway was last repaved 25 years ago.
Another part of the project, putting grooves in the runway and installing center runway lights, is under way and is expected to be done in November, Schwarzen said. Paving in other areas also is moving ahead as scheduled.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
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