The Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport took advantage of the slowdown caused by COVID-19 to get up to speed on some runway improvement projects as part of the 10-year master plan update required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“During this time, we actually have implemented several airport improvement projects through the FAA,” said airport director Rob Barnett. “We’re currently managing three airport construction rehabilitation projects, so we have been busy.”
Rehabilitation of runway 18-36, which is primarily used for commercial planes, was completed about two weeks ago.
“We brought all of our concrete up to speed ,” he said. “We did re-marking, we did re-stripping out there as well, and we are currently scheduled to start toward the end of the month on runway 06-24.”
Work on runway 06-24, which is used for general aviation, will be a similar project that also includes joint repair and concrete repair.
The projects are a big deal for the airport because they’re essentially an entire infrastructure improvement, Barnett said.
Construction is also underway for a new aircraft rescue access road for firefighters, Barnett said, which will also improve the taxiway for general aviators.
The new service road provides the Davies County Airport Fire Station direct access to the airport.
The projects are paid for through the FAA. This is the first plan taken on by the airport in nearly a decade.
“We’re doing a master plan update which is something that has been in the books for a while,” Barnett said. “We’re putting everything into play at this point and being as aggressive as we possibly can in improving our facility for the community.”
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