Project Update – New Panama City Airport

Contract 1: Heavy Civil and Airfield Lighting

On the Heavy Civil and Airfield Lighting contract, the construction team has completed 75% of the contract work and used only 51% of the contract time. The following milestones have been reached:

85% of the 15” concrete paving lanes have been placed on 8,400 linear feet of Runway 16-34.
Runway 16-34 Touch Down Zone and Centerline light cans are being set.
On Taxiway D and main terminal apron, all lime rock base and the first lift of asphalt paving is in place.

Production volumes in place are as follows:

62,354 tons of asphalt pavement in place (both airside and landside).
151,307 square yards of landside lime rock base and 130,885 square yards of flightline P-211 lime rock base have been installed in accordance with the project specifications.
47,000 cubic yards of the 67,200 cubic yards of 15” concrete runway pavement is in place.
98% of the original RCP storm sewer installations are complete (33,086 linear feet).
66,258 linear feet of perforated under-drain has been installed along the taxiways and runways (42% of total).Storm sewer installation within the General Aviation Area is 30% complete.
5.7 million cubic yards of earth has been moved (99% of total).
Mass grading within Pond C now 98% complete.
105 pieces of heavy equipment in operation at any one time with approximately 123 personnel on site.

Contract 2: Terminal Building, ATCT and Support Buildings

On the Terminal Building, ATCT and Support Buildings contract, the construction team has completed 14% of contract work and utilized 19% of the contract time. Specific work includes the following:

Terminal: Shoring for Level 2 areas B and C continues in the terminal building.
Terminal: Plumbing rough-in continues.
Air Traffic Control Tower: Excavation around auger cast piles is complete and ready for installation of pile cap.
Air Cargo Facility: Completed slab pour at truck well/forming retaining walls.
Public Safety Building: Rebar at perimeter footings nearly complete.

Contract 3: Utility Contract

On the Utility Contract, the construction team has completed 4% of contract work and utilized 6% of the contract time. On the Main Access Road:

12” water main: 38% complete
8” force main: 38% complete
3W2” Power Distribution Duct Bank: 26% complete
Street light duct work: 36% complete

Source: newpcairport.com

Main Runway is PAVED at New Airport – VIDEO!

That’s right, the approved 8,400 feet of the main runway at the new airport site in Panama City is complete. With the exception of the center where the runway lights will be installed, they are done. Approval should come shortly from the FAA for the extension to the full 10,000 feet which will take just over 14 days to complete.

Onsite, they have the capability to produce concrete at the pace of filling a new mixing truck every 2.5 minutes so the actual paving goes pretty quick. The concrete layer is 15 inches thick and it lays on top of 4 inches of asphalt. The density is also much greater than the stuff you use to to pour your home’s foundation.

The terminal barely resembles a frame right now but is coming along. Construction time on the terminal will last almost the duration of the project, along with te air traffic control tower. The air traffic control tower has 72 piles already installed that reach 45 feet into the earth. Instead of using pre-cast piles, they used auger-cast piles said Roy Willett, Senior Project Manager of KBR. Auger-cast piles are set by drilling into the ground, and as the dirt comes up, it is replaced with concrete, all the while placing a steel rebar pole down the middle for reinforcement. In the video, you can see where the earth movers are digging around the rebar to clear out the top of the pilings.

In my interview with Dr. Ed Wright, stand-in director of the Bay County Economic Development Alliance, it was mentioned that he wasn’t sure if the new airport would need any modifications with regards to turn-radius/taxiway requirements to accommodate the large Airbus A380 or other large cargo aircraft. Willett confirmed that short of the largest of the Antonov and the largest of the Airforce’s cargo planes, the new airport will be able to accommodate it all with the 10,000 foot runway – turning radii and all. Awesome, just flat-out awesome.!

I took some great footage this trip, enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3070601&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
January Airport Construction Update from Jason Koertge on Vimeo.

The Panama City Airport relocation is moving along quickly with the main runway almost completely paved. The prep work has been done for the extension to 10,000 and upon FAA approval, will be complete within a couple weeks. The Terminal is under construction, as well as the air traffic control tower.

Here are the photos.

New Aerials of the New Airport

No talk, all pictures:

This is looking from the south towards the north. The segment off to the right will be the cross-wind runway. To the far left of the property, you can see a portion of the road that leads up from highway 388. The main runway, obviously, is right down the middle.

In this photo, you can see the terminal and main parking area. the upside down U shape is where the terminal will be, I’m not sure that I can tell the overall footprint shape in this picture.

This is looking west from the east, the terminal is on the far side with an exterior service road shown leading to the bottom of the picture.

This picture more highlights the cross-wind runway.

New Airport Constructin Update

Construction at the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport continues to run smoothly and is currently about 3 and a half months ahead of schedule. A summary of the contracts underway follows.

Contract 1: Heavy Civil and Airfield Lighting:

115 pieces of heavy equipment in operation at any one time with approximately 160 personnel on site.

46% of time utilized (360 of 780 days).

37% of the 15” concrete paving lanes have been placed on 8,500 linear feet of Runway 16-34.

On Taxiway D, all lime rock base and the majority of the first 2” lift of P-401 base have been placed.

12,902 tons of asphalt base course is in place along the Main Access Road (MRA) and loop road. Curb and lime rock base installation within terminal parking lots now 100% complete. Asphalt base course is in place over 75% of main parking lot.

34,888 tons of asphalt base and 20,000 cubic yards of structural concrete have been placed on 8,400 linear feet of Runway 16-34.

6,780 tons of asphalt base has been placed on Taxiway D, and the main apron.

Stormwater drainage pipe installation is now 99% complete.

Storm sewer installation within the General Aviation Area is now underway.

Over 5.4 million cubic yards of earth has been moved (98% of total).

Mass grading within Pond C now 90% complete.

Contract 2: Terminal Building, ATCT and Support Buildings:

Gulf Power has completed installation of temporary overhead power to the Terminal Building location and site office trailers.

Installation of reinforcing steel continues along Area’s A and B of the Terminal Building.

New design of the Air Traffic Control Tower auger cast piles was required due to the original design not meeting the required load test. The original design required 72 piles drilled to a depth of 52 feet. The new design, based on the actual field load tests will require 44 piles drilled to a depth of 70.33 feet and 28 piles drilled to a depth of 80.33 feet.

Rough-in of electrical and plumbing for the Air Cargo Facility is completed.

Installation of mat reinforcing steel and dowels for the Air Cargo Facility is completed.

Installation of the drainage structures for the Airport Maintenance Facility continues.

Contract 3: Utility Contract:
- Contract has been executed and all necessary submittals, insurance and bonds have been received from the Contractor. Notice to Proceed is anticipated within the first week of January.

Panama City Bay County Airport Update

Construction at the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport continues to run smoothly and is currently about 3 and a half months ahead of schedule.

The entire project is about 35% complete, with the heavy civil portion, which includes the main runway, approximately 66% complete.

In general, almost 250 workers are regularly onsite each work day. Offsite quarries, asphalt plants, concrete pipe plants, truck drivers and other ancillary activities will normally employ another 350 people in significant activity.

As the terminal construction and utility installation contracts begin to ramp up after New Years, these numbers will increase

The foundation for the terminal building is underway with concrete being placed in the footers. Foundations are also underway for the various support buildings and the air traffic control tower. Concrete is being produced by local plants (offsite).

Approximately 40,000 tons of asphalt has been placed on the project to date. Contractors are currently paving the main apron areas.

Sands and fine aggregates are obtained from local sources while harder aggregates come from mines in Alabama and Marianna, Florida. Asphalt is mixed by CW Roberts in their Freeport and Panama City plants.

Approximately 55% of the main runway’s 15? concrete paving lanes are now in place.

Aggregates for the concrete are being sourced from local sand quarries and hard rock mines near Perry, Florida. Concrete is being placed by a team of local contractors that includes operators, finishers, and detailers.

To date 5.4 million cubic yards of earth has been moved on the project site.

Approximately 33,000 linear feet of reinforced concrete pipe has been produced locally and installed by the area’s contractors.

Over 40,000 linear feet of high-density plastic underdrains have also been installed.

Other local contractors are involved with providing dewatering pumps, erosion control and grass seeding.

Work on the underground utilities portion of the project is expected to begin on January 5, 2009.

Airport Construction Video Update

The new Panama City Bay County International Airport is flying along with more than 50% of the total work complete and only 40% of the total alotted time used. This places the hard working teams on site about 3 months ahead of schedule.

Anticipation grows daily as the whole site is in a constant state of change. I was up there Thursday of last week and it looks totally different from the way it looked just 60 short days ago.

I could tell you more, but you’ll just have to watch the video.

View in HD

New Airport Terminal Ready for Construction

As reported by NewPCAirport.com.

Construction of the new airport remains ahead of schedule – with only 36% of the time allotted on the heavy civil construction portion of the contract used, the project is currently 46% complete.

Walbridge, the company slated to build the terminal building and all support buildings is scheduled to be on site by October 20.

Preparation of the terminal building pad is complete and it is ready for construction to begin. Walbridge is just waiting on the Notice to Proceed from the Airport Authority Board which is expected on October 15, 2008.

The project is moving forward on all fronts. Currently:

The stabilized sub grad for the terminal parking lot area is complete, the curbing for the lot is ongoing and the limerock base is nearly 60% complete.

Curbing on the loop road is ongoing.

The General Aviation area access road is being final graded.

The flight line storm sewer is 85% complete.

On Runway 16-34, the asphalt base layer was scheduled to start going down on October 10, 2008. Concrete paving on the runway is expected to begin on November 11, 2008.

The earthwork on Taxiway D is 97% complete, with the stabilized sub grade 65% complete. The limerock base is nearing 50% completion. Asphalt paving is anticipated to start October 10, 2008.

The security fence around the perimeter of the airport is 46% complete.

Earthwork on the perimeter road is nearing 85% completion and the stabilization of the sub grade is ongoing.

Runway Paving Started at New Airport

Construction of the airport continues to proceed several months ahead of schedule with nearly 45% of the heavy civil construction portion of the job complete with only 35% of the time used.

The project is still about 3 months ahead of schedule.

There are currently 203 workers and 138 pieces of equipment on site.

Asphalt paving on Taxiway D is started on Monday, October 6, 2008.

Asphalt paving on the north end of Runway 34-16 is expected to begin on Thursday, October 9, 2008.

The earthwork in the General Aviation area is 99% complete.

The utility package for the airport property will be finished and released the beginning of the week of October 13, 2008.

The mandatory pre-bid meeting for the utility package is scheduled for Wednesday, October 15, at 1:00 p.m. at the current airport. Bid packages are due to the Airport Authority Office by Friday, October 31, at 1:00 p.m.

New Airport Construction Update

Well, with the new website, apparently comes more consistent updates. Recently posted, the airport is around 3 months ahead of schedule. With just over 40% of the total construction contract completed on 34% of the total construction TIME has elapsed.

4.5 million cubic yards of excavation has been completed (about 80% of the expected total).
12,500 linear feet of storm sewer is in place and 10,360 tons of asphalt which meets all interim milestones for the project.
Earthwork on Runway 16-34 is 99% complete and the asphalt base for the runway will be laid starting on October 6, 2008. Concrete paving on the runway should begin around November 24, 2008.
The limerock base course is complete in the northern half of the terminal parking lot and is continuing in the rest of the parking lot. Curb installation in the parking lot is nearing 90%.
The guard rail is being installed at County Road 388 entrance.
2.5” of asphalt base course is in place along the 11,000 linear feet of the main access road.
The security fence around the perimeter of the airport property is approximately 35% complete
The building pad for the terminal building is complete. Construction on the terminal building is scheduled to begin in October pending award of the contract for construction by the Airport Authority Board.

Airport Intentions State 10,000 feet

Airport Authority Approves Preliminary Work on 10,000 foot Commercial Runway

Construction of New Airport Months Ahead of Schedule

The Panama City – Bay County International Airport Authority announced its intentions this week to construct a 10,000-foot main runway at the new airport in West Bay, subject to obtaining necessary permits and approvals. The Authority previously authorized the design of the runway extension which takes this runway from 8,400 feet to 10,000 feet and today approved a thicker runway and centerline lighting to accommodate a 10,000 foot runway.

Earlier, the Airport Authority had approved an 8,400-foot concrete runway with the option to extend it to 10,000 feet, if funding became available. The Florida Legislature, during its 2008 legislative session, awarded the airport an additional $4.5 million in funding to lengthen the runway to 10,000 feet.

The Airport Authority has begun the permitting process for the runway extension. The change in runway length is not expected to impact the construction schedule. The Airport Authority currently expects to open the new airport on Memorial Day 2010, with the 10,000 foot runway completed.

“We appreciate the tremendous support we have received from the State of Florida for this new airport,” said Airport Authority Chairman Joe Tannehill. “The State knows how important this new facility is to the future of air service and economic development in Northwest Florida. It is an investment in the future of the Panhandle – and the future of Florida. This new runway will be the only 10,000 foot commercial runway in the Northwest Florida region.”

“From the beginning, our goal has been to build a new airport capable of serving the transportation and economic development needs of our region for decades to come,” said Tannehill. “The longer runway will put us in the strongest possible position to compete for better air service and large aviation-dependent economic development projects.”

“Our focus now must turn to marketing our new facility to commercial airlines, transportation and logistics businesses and other aviation and defense companies we have targeted as potential tenants of the new airport,” said Tannehill. “We are committed to improving the regions air service and expanding the economic base of Northwest Florida.”

Construction of the $318 million state-of-the-art airport began in January 2008 and is now nearly three months ahead of schedule. The runway has been graded and paving is scheduled to begin in early October, four months ahead of schedule.

The two-mile long main airport entry road has been completed, 80 percent of the storm sewer pipes are in place and the parking lot’s curbing and lime-rock base will be completed by the end of September.

“Construction of the new airport is going very well,” said Randy Curtis, the airport’s executive director. “It is truly amazing to see 10 years of planning coming to life.”