Photo By Chief Petty Officer Patrick Gordon | PATUXENT RIVER (Jan. 15, 2020) - The team responsible for helping to meet the NAVFAC...... read more read more
Following several years of work, both primary runways at NAS Patuxent River’s Trapnell Airfield were finally repaired and reopened for business Jan. 6 – meeting Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington’s scheduled completion date.
“The Runway Repairs Project started in December 2015,” said Lt. Christina Milone, the NAVFAC Washington construction manager on the project. “Runway 14/32 was closed intermittently in phases from December 2015 to June 2018, then we closed Runway 6/24 from June 2018 to August 2019 before going back to 14/32, which was closed again from September 2019 to January 2020.”
Both runways and supporting infrastructure and facilities were deteriorating, necessitating the need for repairs, which included rehabilitating the runways to meet current standards and extending the serviceable life of the runways and infrastructure by at least 20 years.
Runway 14/32 is 9,000-feet long and Runway 6/24 is 11,000-feet long; both are 200-feet wide. The entire length of the runways was repaired, over 4 million square feet.
“Frequent communications between all parties, including Air Operations and NAS Patuxent River Commanding Officer Capt. Christopher Cox, helped [Public Works] understand the airfield coordination requirements,” Milone explained. “We then worked with the contractors on adjusting their schedule to ensure we were not disrupting airfield operations. Our Engineering Techs Eddie Bowles, Larry Dong and George Erskine had daily oversight of all the construction operations and kept the contractors on schedule.”
Another important component in reopening the runways on time was the completion of the Triton Taxiway and Apron Replacement Project, which was separate from the runway repairs.
“That started in February 2019 and had to be completed in phases in coordination with the Runway Repairs Project,” Milone said. “The existing asphalt taxiway and concrete apron were demolished and 10 inches of concrete was placed on the entire area, totaling over 6,000 cubic yards. The completion of this taxiway was critical to the opening of Runway 14/32 by Jan. 6 to support air operations.”
Being landlocked with a hole the size of two football fields outside their hangar doors presented many challenges for the Triton team when receiving parts for the two aircraft undergoing extensive modifications in the hangar.
“We were granted space at Hangar 306 for the reconstruction period, which turned out to be longer than anyone anticipated due to unforeseen issues, such as weather and a great deal of the taxiway having to be undercut and built back up,” said Barry Keffer, facility operations specialist for Triton. “Our maintenance crew for the aircraft was split between the hangars as well, causing its own issues when you needed to contact someone.”
Timely completion was also vital in getting the Triton aircraft back into the hangar for required modifications.
“Aircraft B-1 was approaching a critical time where – after so many landings and so many flight hours – a complete inspection of the aircraft/airframe must be done to certify it for flight worthiness,” Keffer explained. “During teardown inspection the plane cannot be moved, which would’ve been near impossible in Hangar 306.”
Milone is earning credit for her role in the successful completion of such a high-profile project.
“Lt. Milone played a huge part,” said Lt. Cmdr. Adam Gerlach, NAVFAC Washington’s facilities engineering and acquisition division director. “She worked with and alongside our Public Works acquisition branch and construction branch to facilitate actions as needed, as well as our Air Ops personnel. She routinely de-conflicted the activities of over $120 million worth of construction projects, not only from each other, but from the base’s daily and R&D activities. She regularly was asked to brief senior leadership both onboard and off-base, and represented myself, the Public Works Officer, and NAVFAC Washington.”
A few punchlist items remain for the runway repairs, such as installing new approach lights and electrical work in the two new light vaults, but nothing that will affect the operation of the two main runways, Milone said.
“This spring we’ll have one more closure of Runway 6/24, starting March 1, to support the new MQ-25 hangar construction,” she added. “They’ll be installing a new taxiway from the runway to the hangar and construction is expected to take three months.”
| Date Taken: | 01.06.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.04.2020 10:57 |
| Story ID: | 361621 |
| Location: | PATUXENT RIVER, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 69 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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