Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Friday marked the official reopening of north-south runway at the Northern Maine Regional Airport, following months of upgrades.
The weather was perfect Sept. 21, as the first flight in – Colgan Air – made a landing, and the first flight out – John Trask’s plane – departed from the airport.
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
FIRST FLIGHT OUT – John Trask, in his role as flight instructor, departs from the Northern Maine Regional Airport with one of his clients. Trask’s plane was the first flight out on Sept. 21, taking off about an hour after the newly-completed runway was reopened for use. The project came in under budget and on time, to the delight of Airport Manager Scott Wardwell.
“Mother Nature provided us with a beautiful morning for this,” said Airport Manager Scott Wardwell as he watched the Colgan aircraft land.
FAA officials were on hand to turn on their equipment along the runway prior to the official reopening.
“Everyone’s pretty excited to have the work completed,” said Wardwell.
The project, which began in May, was completed on schedule and under budget. Officials with HNTB Corporation, the company that won the bid for the work, were on hand Friday to witness the first flights in and out to use the completed runway.
“The existing runway was recycled and reused. We used 18,000 cubic yards of crushed granite to build the base and 78,000 square feet of new paint on the runway. We also moved about 46,000 cubic yards of material to bring it up to date. The project was bid at $4.271,000 and we were able to complete it $113,500 under budget,” said Daniel Fish, PE, airport engineering for HNTB, of Westbrook.
Wardwell was pleased with the savings.
“HNTB does a good job estimating. I was pleasantly surprised to find out they were able to complete the job for less than was bid,” said Wardwell.
The runway can accommodate aircraft of varying sizes, according to Wardwell.
“The runway is large enough to accommodate a 747 landing but is primarily designed for Saab aircraft,” said Wardwell. “We didn’t lengthen it (the runway), we just reconstructed what we had.”
Wardwell noted there used to be a dip in the runway, put there when the military designed it years ago, that was removed during the reconstruction.
“The dip helped their jets take off. We also have new edge lighting,” said Wardwell.
The last time this particular runway was done was back in 1978, Wardwell said.
The runway measures 7,440 feet in length by 150 feet wide.
“The FAA had thought it should go down to 100 feet from the 150, but the city and state agreed it should be 150. The additional cost was picked up by the city and state. The city picked up 20 percent of the cost, while the state covered 80 percent. The source of the state money was through a bond issue Representative Jeremy Fischer and state Senator John Martin really worked hard to get as a bond issue,” said Wardwell.
More work on runways is planned in the future.
“Assuming the funding comes, we’ll be back to supervise the 10-28 runway work. After that, we’ll have all the runways up to FAA standards,” said Fish.
The Presque Isle facility makes safety a top priority.
“This airport will be the first (in Maine) to have safety areas in accordance with FAA guidelines, with the completion of 10-28,” said Valquirio Mendonca, PE, manager of aviation engineering for HNTB, of Boston.
Several contractors spent the summer completing the project.
“Sargent Corporation was the primary contractor on site. Subcontractors included: Soderberg, of Caribou; Lane Construction; County Electric; B.R. Smith Associates teamed with us to survey,” said Fish.
“Also working on the project were Nicom, of Vermont; Seal-Coat, of Massachusetts; and SirLinesALot, of New Hampshire,” added Mendonca.
The project lasted a total of 137 calendar days, from start to finish.
“Sargent finished right on time, with quality work,” said Fish.
Wardwell said Trask, a local pilot from Easton, sounded pleased when told he would be one of the first flights out from the reopened runway.
“John sounded excited when I told him he would probably have the honor of being the first plane to depart after the runway was opened,” said Wardwell.
A Colgan Saab was the first to land at the airport, while Trask, serving as flight instructor, took off in his twin-engine Seneca shortly after the runway was reopened.
Wardwell said an even larger aircraft was scheduled to land Friday.
“Tennessee Air Guard planned to bring in a C-130 on Friday,” said Wardwell.
Wardwell is pleased with the final results and looks forward to the upcoming holiday season.
“The work was completed just in time for the holiday season. With both campuses in session and the holidays, the completed runway will make air travel to Presque Isle that much smoother,” said Warwell. “It’s a job well done.”
