Springfield-Branson National Airport closes Friday, reopens Monday

The aiport is resurfacing an intersection of two runways.

August 12, 2011|by Jay Scherder, KY3 News | jscherder@ky3.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- (Edited news release) Due to runway resurfacing, we'll be closed to all aircraft, with the exception of helicopters for three days. The airport has two runways. Only one is being resurfaced. That runway will be closed all summer, while the other remains open so planes can land and take off.

The airport will remain open until resurfacing work reaches the intersection of the two runways. That's the point where we have to close the airport. We can’t work near the intersection and allow takeoffs and landings. That would be an unsafe situation.

The airport will close at 11 a.m. on Aug. 12 and reopen at 11 a.m. on Aug. 15. During that 72-hour period, crews will work around the clock to resurface the intersection area.

All the commercial airlines serving Springfield zeroed out their flight schedules. This means it's impossible to book a flight to or from Springfield during the closure. The airport has two runways: Runway 14/32. 8,000 feet long, and Runway 2/20. 7,000 feet long. We'll resurface 5,400 feet of Runway 14/32.

The last resurfacing of this runway was done with asphalt in 1994. This pavement is now 16 years old and has reached the end of its life cycle. Work began in May and the runway will reopen by Oct. 14, 2011.

While Runway 14/32 is being resurfaced, all flights will land and take off from Runway 2/20 until work reaches the intersection of the runways. At that point, the airport will close for three days.

It's not unusual for the airport to close a runway. It's done routinely for maintenance and construction. What is unusual is to have both runways closed at the same time. This last occurred in 1972 for similar work. However, in 1972 the airport was closed for nearly a month: Sept. 25 to Oct. 23.

Repaving near the intersection demands closing both runways because workers and equipment will infringe on the safety area of Runway 2/20. The safety area is 250 feet wide, on either side of the runway, and is measured from the runway centerline.

Planes can not land if there's anything, or anyone, in the safety area. Runway 2/20 was resurfaced with concrete in 2003. Resurfacing of that runway probably won't be needed for at least 20 years.

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