Carson City Airport runway reopened Friday after nine-day closure

The Carson City Airport runway reopened Friday afternoon after being closed to all inbound and outbound flights since Oct. 26.

Work to fill 19,620 feet of runway cracks finished three days ahead of schedule.

Granite Construction worked 24 hours a day since Oct. 26 to saw cut, fill and fog seal the cracks. The runway was also restriped and brush was cleared back 8 to 10 feet from the runway, airport manager Yvon Weaver said.

The Federal Aviation Administration approved the temporary repair work Friday morning and after cleanup work and brush clearing the runway reopened at 3 p.m.

By 4:30 p.m., El Aero Services had already landed two planes which had been operating out of Reno since the airport closed, manager John Kelly said.

El Aero did no fuel business during the closure but the repair shop was busy, he said.

Frehner will return next spring when temperatures warm up to finish the project with a slurry seal.

This repair project was done to satisfy the FAA until the runway can be rebuilt. The Carson City Airport Authority likely won't acquire the $7 million to $10 million in FAA grants needed to reconstruct the runway until 2002-2003.

The repair contract originally was for $315,000 but two change orders increases the cost to about $347,000. The overtime for the 24-hour work plus the fog sealing and temporary striping added $51,000, but a 500-foot overestimate in crack measurements plus an adjustment to account for daytime hours in the 24-hour work reduced the contract by about $19,000, airport engineer Jim Clague said.