The Dubois County Airport Authority has secured funding to extend the runway at Huntingburg Regional Airport (KHNB) in Indiana.
The extension of the airport’s only runway has been planned for more than a decade. The $12 million project is being funded by federal, state and local grants.
The project includes reconstructing approximately 700′ of the airport’s 5,000′ runway and extending it an additional 500′. Its parallel taxiway also will be extended by 500′, according to Curtis Brown, a project manager for Woolpert, an architectural and engineering firm that is overseeing the project.
“We will be lowering County Road 200 West and creating a tunnel at the end of the runway, relocating the public and private utilities along that road and doing around 270,000 cubic yards worth of dirt work to create embankments of up to 30 feet,” Brown said. “We also will conduct multiple safety improvements and upgrades, installing all new LED runway lights and additional navigational aids. As part of the second phase, the runway also will be widened from 75 feet to 100 feet.”
Construction will be phased over the next two years to minimize disruption to the airport and its users, according to officials. There will be short-term airport closures, but most of the work will be performed while the runway is operational, Brown said.
Brown said this project is additionally gratifying because it supports the growth of a GA airport.
“It’s said that general aviation is the largest airline in the United States, because more business is flown with private aircraft than any other,” Brown said. “GA is often overlooked, but these airports are critical to the economic welfare of state and local businesses across the country.”
Construction is scheduled to begin this month.