U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt broke ground Monday on a new $69 million air traffic control tower and Terminal Radar Approach Control facility at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE). The new tower will replace one that has served the airport since 1988.
“Airports are economic engines for our country. These investments in airport infrastructure have both efficiency and safety benefits,” said Babbitt. “The new location for the Cleveland tower gives controllers a better view of airport operations and will ensure that they are prepared for the future of air traffic control.”
Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2014 and is expected to generate nearly 100 new construction jobs.
The new 324-foot-tall tower will be equipped with the latest aviation technology to prepare for the FAA’s transformation to the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, according to FAA officials. The technology will give air traffic controllers more precise, system wide information about weather and flight data.
The Cleveland facility will include a tower cab with eight air traffic positions where controllers direct aircraft in and around Hopkins airport and a radar facility that controls air traffic in a 30-mile area around the Cleveland metropolitan region. In 2010, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport handled more than 194,000 aircraft arrivals and departures.
For more information: FAA.gov
