Westmoreland County Airport Authority has wrapped up contracts for widening and strengthening the runway at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport while looking ahead to taxiway adjustments in the spring.
Final change orders, for quantity adjustments, brought Golden Triangle Construction’s contract, for the second phase of the runway project, to slightly more than $12 million. Derry Construction Co.’s payment, for the third phase of the work, totaled slightly less than $4.9 million.
Authority engineer Scott Kunselman noted Derry Construction’s final price was $13,596 less than its original bid, while Golden Triangle’s total was $126,228 more than its original price.
He said that higher cost reflects extra work that was added — including replacement of tower lighting controls, cabling for a Precision Approach Path Indicator system and a new gravel parking area.
“When the dust settled, we were over the original contract amount,” Kunselman said.
The authority received Federal Aviation Administration funding for the safety-related runway improvements.
The authority widened the runway at the Unity airport from 100 feet to 150 feet, which officials have said provides an increased margin of safety for pilots landing during inclement weather.
An extra 3-inch layer of pavement that was added is expected to allow the runway to better withstand a potential increase in commercial flights — something the authority has prepared for by expanding the secure passenger holding area at the Arnold Palmer terminal.
The authority approved a change order for the holding area project — increasing the cost by $12,849, to $258,599, for additional emergency generator circuits. Final inspection for that work, which also included relocation of car rental offices, was completed during the summer.
The Derry Construction contract also covered improvement of one taxiway and removal of part of another.
According to Kunselman, the authority expects a $2 million FAA grant to cover relocation of three additional “stub” taxiways, in accordance with FAA safety guidance.
That project involves repositioning the taxiways so they don’t connect directly from the runway to the primary ramp, where passengers board and disembark from planes.
That work will wait until next spring. “We didn’t want to start to tear the taxiway out and not get the replacement in until after the winter,” Kunselman said.
At Rostraver Airport, the authority approved an agreement to purchase piping materials from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County, at an estimated cost of $53,600, for construction of a line extension, to provide water for additional potential hangars.
Airport officials are required to purchase the needed materials directly from the municipal authority, Kunselman said, adding, “Our contractor will install it.”
That contractor is KGD Contracting of Irwin, which submitted a low bid of $124,451.