City of Powell River’s airport runway rehabilitation project is on time and on budget.
At the May 14 committee of the whole meeting, director of infrastructure Tor Birtig outlined the project and said construction started at the airport on April 8. Construction is currently on pace to end on June 3, he added.
Birtig showed council several photos of the project, including the paving startup, to put the first course of asphalt down. He said the paving started on the morning of May 13 with a crew from BA Blacktop. The first paved full section of the airport is 45 metres wide by approximately 180 metres and the next phase was about 200 metres down the runway.
“They are definitely on pace, weather depending, to complete prior to June 3,” said Birtig. “With the schedule, they have prepped the base; that was a lot of work bringing in the aggregate. Trenching for the electrical is nearing 98 per cent completion.
“One issue that we do have is light procurement. All the way through we had indications that there would be no delays in the supply of electrical equipment, but what we are finding now is the electrical equipment will not arrive until approximately July 1 and it will take about 10 days for the installation.”
Birtig said what that will mean is the city will open up the runway once the paving and line marking has been completed, but there will be a limit to daytime operation. He said fortunately, the longest days of the year are occurring now and there are approximately 16 hours of daylight to work with.
“It will not impact Pacific Coastal Airlines’ operation,” said Birtig.
Another component of the airport project is an obstacle limitation survey that is going to happen this week after some trees are topped. The survey will then be completed to ensure there is nothing that impacts the airport approaches. There are also Transport Canada approvals that will be required, according to Birtig.
Councillor Trina Isakson asked, with the delay in the installation of lights, what that would mean for emergency aircraft access to the airport. Birtig said emergency flights will not be able to come in at night, so they will be forewarned, but there is still the option of using helicopters at the hospital.
Birtig concluded by saying construction is scheduled to be complete June 3 but there are no plans to open the runway until June 10.
“That’s when we’ve told Pacific Coastal they can resume operations,” said Birtig. “Should we finish prior to June 3, there may be some opportunities for Pacific Coastal to operate some flights prior. In essence, we are guaranteeing the June 10 opening.”
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