Newsroom
Houston Airport System
June 18, 2009
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Runway 9/27, the state-of-the-art Category III runway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) has garnered the Houston Airport System (HAS) the coveted Spirit of Cooperation Award from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to honor the recognition of the seamless collaboration between the two organizations during the rehabilitation work recently completed on the runway.
The ten-thousand foot strip that essentially runs parallel to the terminal facilities between Will Clayton Parkway and JFK Blvd is the international airport’s newest runway, a perfect example of new technology and design methods that will increase the lifespan of a runway.
The Houston Airport System has partnered with the FAA on more than 21 major projects totaling some $272 million dollars over the past five years.
“We are highly honored by this recognition from the FAA”, says Eric Potts, HAS interim director. “It is a testament to the professionalism and expertise of our employees who have worked in tandem with the FAA on a number of critical projects over the past years. When you can develop this kind of a productive partnership between two agencies responsible for safety, ultimately the 48 million plus passengers who transit Bush Intercontinental Airport annually benefit the most.”
The award represents a rare tribute for an airport and is an exceptional achievement for the team of 10 HAS engineers, planners and designers who joined forces with their counterparts at the FAA and an army of construction workers. Together, the team was able to return the $35 million project to revenue generating service in four months.
“The highly successful collaboration and partnership displayed by IAH, the FAA and other organizations to complete 9/27 in record time took a major planning effort, ” says Lawrence Perkins, FAA manager of terminal planning for the Central U.S. “The cooperation is vital to accomplish our common objectives of providing a safe and efficient airport.”
The upgraded runway allows pilots the greatest precision in landing aircraft in low and reduced visibility flight conditions. |
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IAH Awarded. Team work to complete runway 9/27 received the Spirit of Cooperation Award from the FAA. |
The rehabilitation of runway 9/27 includes seven different taxiways and involved replacing the entire asphalt surface with a 14-inch concrete overlay designed to strengthen the base level by almost 400 percent. This will give future design teams the option of laying new concrete on top of the base, rather than starting over with an entirely new runway.
Improvements include enhanced lighting, markings and electronic systems that allow pilots to conduct instrument landings under the most severe weather conditions and extend the runway lifespan to more than two decades.
The advancement was actually initiated more than twenty years ago, back in 1987. That’s when design teams with the Houston Airport System decided to use a construction technique called a Lime Cement Fly Ash Stabilized Base.
Runway 9/27 is one of five runways at IAH. The runway places Houston’s international airport in an elite league of airports in the nation that currently operate three parallel Category III runways and can conduct triple simultaneous takeoffs and landings.
HAS members who worked on the rehabilitation team include Eric Potts, Adil Godiwalla, Keith Goodwin, Bill Gaw, Rainer Will, Steven Roberts, William Rodriguez, Charles Burleson, Dan Garmon and Lisa Rocbado.
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