Post by vgp on Aug 5, 2008 18:33:11 GMT 12
Airport runway tarmac another victim of floods
Cherie Howie - The Marlborough Express | Tuesday, 05 August 2008
The fallout from last week's flooding continued yesterday with Blenheim Airport closed after a section of the runway was found to have broken up.
The airport was closed just before 10am and reopened five hours later.
Air New Zealand spokeswoman Tracey Palmer said more than 50 Eagle Air passengers were disrupted. Eagle Air is a subsidiary of Air New Zealand.
Airport operations manager Chris Gee said an inspection crew checking reports of a dead bird on the runway discovered that a patch of tarmac had broken up. An Air New Zealand pilot also reported the damaged tarmac to the control tower.
Mr Gee said the inspection crew found a series of palm-sized chunks of tarmac had come loose in a less than one metre square section of the runway.
The cracking was believed to be caused by last week's flooding.
The decision to close the runway was a safety call, he said. "It was particularly because of the location. It's about where the propellers run over. The potential for picking up stones that might go through the engine prompted the decision."
Contractors resealed a 2m by 3.7m section of the runway.
The runway was checked every morning, with no problems reported yesterday, Mr Gee said.
He also did a thorough check every Friday.
The runway was still in good condition, but the surface was starting to deteriorate, he said.
The runway is maintained by airport owners MDC Holdings, a subsidiary of the Marlborough District Council, but is owned by Base Woodbourne.
It is due to be resealed in January 2010.
Airport manager Dean Heiford said the resealing would not be brought forward.
The logistics of resealing the runway were massive and a year was needed to plan for the work.
www.stuff.co.nz/marlboroughexpress/4644291a6008.html
Cherie Howie - The Marlborough Express | Tuesday, 05 August 2008
The fallout from last week's flooding continued yesterday with Blenheim Airport closed after a section of the runway was found to have broken up.
The airport was closed just before 10am and reopened five hours later.
Air New Zealand spokeswoman Tracey Palmer said more than 50 Eagle Air passengers were disrupted. Eagle Air is a subsidiary of Air New Zealand.
Airport operations manager Chris Gee said an inspection crew checking reports of a dead bird on the runway discovered that a patch of tarmac had broken up. An Air New Zealand pilot also reported the damaged tarmac to the control tower.
Mr Gee said the inspection crew found a series of palm-sized chunks of tarmac had come loose in a less than one metre square section of the runway.
The cracking was believed to be caused by last week's flooding.
The decision to close the runway was a safety call, he said. "It was particularly because of the location. It's about where the propellers run over. The potential for picking up stones that might go through the engine prompted the decision."
Contractors resealed a 2m by 3.7m section of the runway.
The runway was checked every morning, with no problems reported yesterday, Mr Gee said.
He also did a thorough check every Friday.
The runway was still in good condition, but the surface was starting to deteriorate, he said.
The runway is maintained by airport owners MDC Holdings, a subsidiary of the Marlborough District Council, but is owned by Base Woodbourne.
It is due to be resealed in January 2010.
Airport manager Dean Heiford said the resealing would not be brought forward.
The logistics of resealing the runway were massive and a year was needed to plan for the work.
www.stuff.co.nz/marlboroughexpress/4644291a6008.html
