Edwards AFB new runway finished ahead of schedule
By Danny Kelly

Col. Thomas Magness IV, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District commander (center), participates in a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the district’s Air Force and civilian project partners at Edwards Air Force Base Oct. 31. The ribbon cutting represented the opening of the reconstructed runway at the base. (USACE photo by Danny Kelly)

The runway was finished two months ahead of schedule, according to Mike Kennedy, CH2M Hill president for the joint venture.

Kennedy said workers built two runways in 19 months; moved 44,000 truckloads of rock, sand and asphalt; placed 28 miles of concrete, 33 feet wide, 20 inches deep; and moved more than 800,000 cubic yards of dirt.

“We demolished the entire permanent runway in nine weeks … 445,000 square yards of concrete. It came up pretty fast,” he said.

According to Kennedy, the runway is so well-built, that it will last 100 years.

“We take great pride in the work we’ve done for the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” he said.

The team was not only timely with the project, but very safe, according to Kennedy.

“It took a lot of leadership, skill, dedication, and some courage,” Kennedy said. “This team worked over 400,000 hours without a single loss-time incident. That’s one of those records you’re very proud of, because everyone who came to work in the morning went home safe at night.”

The multi-million dollar project also entailed the construction of a 12,000-foot by 200-foot temporary runway. The runway allowed the Air Force’s mission during the main runway’s construction to continue, virtually uninterrupted, according to Col. Thomas Magness IV, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District commander.

“Nearly all of the Air Force's new aircraft have been tested on this runway, and with its reconstruction, the runway will support the development of future generations of Air Force aircraft, and help the Flight Test Center reach that which can be summed up in its motto, ’toward the unexplored,’” Magness said. “We are happy to be a part of this continued legacy.”

Maj. Gen. David Eichhorn, Air Force Flight Test Center commander, Col. William Thornton, 412th Test Wing commander, and Col. Jerry Gandy, 95th Air Base Wing commander, take the first flight off the reconstructed runway at Edwards Air Force Base Oct. 31 in two F-16D Fighting Falcons. (USACE photo by Danny Kelly)

“The Pavement Condition Index, which begins with a score of 100, dropped from 83 in 1995 to 54 in 1999,” said John Stephens, Los Angeles District project manager, in a previous NewsCastle report by Jay Field.

“The cause of the pavement’s rapid deterioration is an alkali-silica reaction,” Stephens said in the report.

Highly alkaline cement used in the concrete mixture reacts with the silica in the sand and gravel, forming a substance which absorbs water and causes the concrete to crack and crumble over time, according to the report.

A new runway was in order, so in 2003, plans to rebuild began.

The project was awarded to a joint venture in August 2006: CH2M Hill and Interstate Highway Construction. The venture finished construction on the inside runway on May 19. Construction on the main runway began the same day.

“This project was a big undertaking,” Kennedy said.