Friday, July 19, 2002

PTC Airport Authority gets grant to seal cracks on runway, apron and taxiways

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The weather, plane traffic and who knows what else have left their marks on the paved runway, taxiways and aprons of Falcon Field.

The resulting cracks will be repaired at a reduced cost to the Peachtree City Airport Authority due to a state grant that will cover 75 percent of the project. That means the authority will pay an estimated $3,200 of the total $13,200 cost, according to the calculations of Airport Manager Jim Savage.

This will be the third time cracks have been sealed on the pavement at Falcon Field since it was repaved between 1990 and 1994, Savage said.

The project calls for cracks to be routed out and filled with an asphalt based sealant to prevent water from becoming trapped which would cause the cracks to become larger, Savage said. There are an estimated 22,000 linear feet of cracks in pavement on the airport property.

The airport may be repaved within the next five to 10 years according to the authority's master plan, and this crack sealing project will help buy time needed to reach those estimates, Savage indicated.

At its meeting last week, the authority authorized Savage to enter a contract for the project and state grant with the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The authority also voted to pay for engineering designs to pave approximately 2,500 feet of Stallings Road. The road, which borders Falcon Field to the south, is a gravel thoroughfare that leads to one of Peachtree City's sewer treatment plants and undeveloped property west of the airport that is owned by Pathway Communities.

The road paving is necessary to provide access to a new commercial hangar area that features six new hangar sites. The construction of that area has been completed but the sites can't be used until the road is paved.

The authority hopes to share the road construction costs between itself, Pathway Communities, the Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority and possibly the Peachtree City Council.

The design funds, which will be footed by the Airport Authority, will come out of its reserve fund for the time being, according to Savage.


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