Runway Repaving Will Bring Bigger Planes To Dalton
Thursday, November 14th, 2024
There are no planes taking off or landing this week at the Dalton Municipal Airport. The runway is closed for its first repaving in more than 35 years. Once the project's done, though, bigger and heavier airplanes will be able to use the facility.
"Ultimately, (the runway) will be three inches thicker than it was before," said Airport Manager Andrew Wiersma. "So it will have a much stronger weight bearing capacity when it’s done which will allow us to service the larger, heavier jets in the future."
The project is not adding any length to the runway - it will stay at 5,500 feet so it will still not be long enough to service jumbo jets. But certain types of corporate jets which couldn't land in Dalton before can now visit the Carpet Capital.
Caption: A paving crew works to lay down new asphalt on the Dalton Municipal Airport runway
"When you get into the upper range of your corporate sized jets like your Gulfstream 550s and 650s, they were just over the edge of our weight limit before," Wiersma said. "So, it just makes it more comfortable for those guys (with bigger jets) to come in and take on large loads of fuel which helps fuel sales and everything else."
The runway resurfacing is one of the finishing touches on a series of projects to rehab the airport's facilities. The runway apron was resurfaced in two phases with the second phase wrapping up last year. The taxiway was resurfaced and moved further from the runway in 2007. But besides crack sealing and maintenance work, the main runway had not been paved since the runway was extended to its current length before 1988. It was so long ago, in fact, that airport staff aren't sure when that work took place - just that it was between 1985 and 1988.
"The runway has actually held up pretty well for the length of time – because typically you want to resurface asphalt much sooner than that," Wiersma said. "Usually you get about a 20-year lifespan on asphalt. (Ours) had definitely outlived its useful life. But thankfully it was holding up well, we didn’t have chunks of asphalt coming up or anything like that."
The runway work is being funded primarily through federal grants, with smaller shares of matching funds from the Georgia Department of Transportation and local funds. The Dalton Municipal Airport generates a $7.8 million annual economic impact on the region. While the airport does serve aviation enthusiasts for recreational flights, it is also a transportation hub for corporate travel and support for local industry. The airport frequently services flights bringing important equipment which helps keep manufacturing facilities online. Military flights frequently use the airport for refueling and staging. And each year, the USDA also uses the airport as the home base for the operation to airdrop rabies vaccines in forests across the state to inoculate raccoons and other wild animals and cut down on the spread of the disease.
Caption: A steamroller works on the runway repaving at the Dalton Municipal Airport
Once the resurfacing work is completed, more work is on the horizon to modernize the airport. Thanks to the federal infrastructure bill, work will begin next year to update lighting and electrical facilities throughout the airport.
"We’ve been saving (the federal grant money) each year for this lighting project where we will be replacing all of our lights and electrical next year using those funds," Wiersma said. "So, all of our lights, taxiway lights, the rotating beacon, the PAPI (Precision Approach Path Indicator) lights, and the wind cone light will all be replaced to LEDs next year."
The sky over Dalton may be a little quieter for a few weeks while the paving work is done, but keeping the Dalton Municipal Airport in top shape will keep our sky buzzing for decades to come.
