Apron replacement begins at airport
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Crews from Ideker Construction of St. Joseph have been working this week to grade earth and lay down heavy fabric sheets in preparation for pouring a new concrete apron at Northwest Missouri Regional Airport. The $1 million apron rebuild is 90 percent funded by an Airport Improvement Program grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The latest in a series of major improvements at Northwest Missouri Regional Airport, located on State Highway 46 just west of Maryville, is underway.
Crews from Ideker Construction of St. Joseph have begun replacing the airport’s concrete apron, which serves as a large parking and tie-down area for aircraft.
The $1 million project also includes earthwork along the southernmost portion of the runway that will create a graded runway safety area, or RSA, compliant with Federal Aviation Administration specifications.
The RSA acts as a buffer zone should an aircraft veer off the runway during a takeoff or landing.
Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland said Thursday that all work should be completed around Thanksgiving, and that the earthwork portion of the project will force the airport to close for 10 days beginning Oct. 2.
Heiland, who has been handed responsibility for airport operations by City Manager Greg McDanel, said the old apron had many of the same problems that plagued a 4,000-foot section of the 4,600-foot runway replaced last year.
Temperature extremes over the years caused both the runway and apron to buckle and crack in numerous locations, creating a hazard for planes.
Not included in the rebuild was the southernmost 600 feet of the runway, which was added as an extension in 2008 along with a second taxiway.
As with the $3.4 million runway rebuild, the apron project is being 90 percent funded by an FAA Airport Improvement Program grant. The city’s requisite 10 percent match will be financed using a Missouri Department of Transportation Statewide Transportation Assistance Revolving Fund low-interest loan, a program known as STAR.
In addition to a fresh concrete surface, the apron will include 12 three-point tie-downs designed to keep aircraft securely in place while parked in windy conditions.
Formerly known as Maryville Memorial Airport, the city’s airstrip was built just after World War II and long served as a fairly typical small-town aviation facility catering to hobby pilots and the occasional crop duster.
In recent years, however, the airport has seen significant upgrades, including installation of new runway lights and a jet fuel island.
The fueling station provides a low-traffic alternative to commercial and private pilots flying small jets and seeking to skirt either Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph or the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City.
Other airport improvements over the past decade include construction in 2007 of a terminal building equipped with a meeting room, furnished pilots’ lounge, cable television, Wi-Fi, vending machines and restrooms.
CITY OF MARYVILLE IMAGE
This diagram shows the scope of work currently underway at Northwest Missouri Regional Airport just west of Maryville. The improvements, set for completion around Thanksgiving, include construction of a new concrete apron to the north of the runway (Schedule I) and earthwork creating a “runway safety area,” or RSA, along the runway’s southern end (Schedule II).
