Long-reach backhoe on the right/Credit: Stephanie Joyce

Construction season is underway in Unalaska, and contractors are back at work on the $28 million project to extend the airport runway. KUCB’s Stephanie Joyce toured the construction site, and has this report on the project’s progress.

[sounds of heavy machinery, rocks being moved]

At the far end of the runway, a long-reach backhoe is carefully placing boulder after boulder into Unalaska Bay. It looks random, but project manager Dennis Falldorf explains that the backhoe operator is actually carefully crafting a piece of land.

Falldorf: “So, he's got a screen, and the [GPS] unit is sitting on the bucket, so he can see where he is all the time. He's building stuff underwater.”

When the boulders have all been placed, a crane will drop huge blocks of concrete known as Core Locs around the perimeter to keep the fill from washing away. The additional land will bring the length of the runway safety zone from 100 to 300 feet.

Falldorf: “Where you see the end of the pavement right now -- the white stripe you see, the big white stripe -- is what’s called the threshold. That’s where the runway actually begins. We're going to add on to this area outboard of the threshold just for a little more safety there.”

The other end of the runway will be similarly extended, to add a total of 500 feet of new pavement. Of that, only 100 feet will actually be useable runway. The rest is to keep planes from going into the ocean if they have to abort takeoff.

PenAir Vice President of Operations Brian Carricaburu says that means the project won’t have a big impact on the airlines’ service to the community.

Carricaburu: “On those days that it’s flat calm, which are far and few between [sic] in Dutch, of course, the 100 feet will allow us to carry more weight out of Dutch.”

The increased runway length also makes it possible for larger planes, like the Bombardier Q400, to use the airport, but Carricaburu says PenAir has no immediate plans to change their aircraft.

Carricaburu: “We’re still looking at different airframes to see what’s suitable and what’s affordable, but the decision hasn’t been made yet.”

PenAir’s entire fleet is composed of Saab 340s, and adding a different kind of plane could be costly.

So, for now, the runway improvement project’s largest impact on Unalaska residents will be the rerouting and paving of Ballyhoo Road. Falldorf, the project manager, says construction crews are working on moving the utilities right now, and should be done soon.

Falldorf:“To finish it is to pave it, and that’s off into July/August, but we can get the road opened up again on the new alignment.”

Once the ‘hot plant’ for making asphalt is on the island, crews will pave Ballyhoo Road and the runway itself. Falldorf says there shouldn’t be any impacts to air travel from the work. He expects the whole project will be finished by mid-September.