News from King County Department of Transportation
Release date:  Aug. 28, 2006

Boeing Field reopens newly rehabilitated runway

Project headed for final completion on schedule

King County International Airport (KCIA), commonly known as Boeing Field, will fully reopen its main runway at 8 p.m. this evening (Monday, Aug. 28) marking the end of major rehabilitation of the 10,000-foot runway. The reopening completes the most labor-intensive and complex phase of the project, which began Aug. 8.  Remaining finishing work will be completed over the next few weeks.

KCIA Director Bob Burke praised project general contractor ICON, its subcontractors, construction manager URS and airport staff for carrying out a highly professional and coordinated effort to rehabilitate and reopen the runway on time and within budget.

“In my 24 years in airport management I have never seen a project as well coordinated and go as smoothly as this one,” said Burke. “Everyone involved in this project is to be congratulated for getting our main runway reopened and back in business for the next 25 years.”

During the course of the project, crews paved the equivalent of two miles of Interstate 5 in 20 days, working around the clock without a single job related injury. More than 4,200 trucks delivered approximately 100,000 tons of asphalt. Crews installed an estimated 20,000 lineal feet of runway edge drains, added several miles of cabling and conduit, installed a new runway edge lighting system, reinstalled runway signage, removed and replaced thousands of yards of excavated material and reconstructed 15 taxiway connector points - all while keeping the airport open and the smaller runway operating normally.

While the project went well, there were a few surprises. Most notably, more liquefaction problems and soil compaction than expected were discovered at taxiway connectors.  However, dry weather allowed crews to work uninterrupted and meet their goal of opening a 5,000-foot section of the main runway last Thursday for limited operations.

The main runway is one of the longest in the state and supports the movement of billions of dollars worth of manufactured aircraft, accommodating more than 300,000 operations by air cargo, general aviation, test flight operations and commercial passenger service in the region each year. In all, the airport supports more than 500 aircraft and 150 businesses based at Boeing Field.

The main runway was last rehabilitated in 1985. In addition to years of normal wear-and-tear, the runway experienced significant damage during the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake. While immediate repairs were made following the quake, liquefaction of the sub-base soils caused cracking and depressions – problems that have now been corrected as part of the renovation project.

The project was funded in part by a $24.5 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  The total cost of the main runway rehabilitation is expected to cost $27 million.