By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The City of Great Bend is involved in a grant with the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) that will bring a demolition and reconstruction of the
crosswind runway at the Great Bend Municipal Airport.
Airport Manager Martin Miller said many World War II airfields were built with
a triangle of three long runways. The crosswind runways actually cross each other
at the very end. For obvious safety concerns now, the FAA will not approve any
new construction on intersecting runways.
"The next project will be the design and construction of the crosswind runway that will probably be shorter than the 4,700 feet we have now and narrower," said Martin. "It will be offset and pulled away from where it was. Right now, it's sitting on 70-something-year-old concrete. That will all have to be removed."
Over the recent years, Miller said the wind has favored the northwest more than
it ever has, instead of just a straight north wind or south wind. The crosswind
runway reconstruction will be repositioned to the northwest because of this.
Crosswind runways provide an alternative landing strip for planes when the wind is blowing strongly across the main runway.
The material breakdown of the runway will be determined
through the design.
"The material will be determined later based on the forecast of what aircraft will be on it," said Miller. "There will be preparation of maybe a foot of dirt and base below it. It will either have a concrete sub-base and an asphalt overlay, a very thick asphalt pavement or maybe a concrete pavement. We don't know yet. That comes when the design is approved."
The FAA will cover 90% of the demolition and reconstruction project at the Great Bend airport.