San Carlos Airport gets runway renewal

The repair and improvement project became a top priority for the airport when significant cracks on the edges of paved surfaces were discovered. Some cracks measured more than 14 inches deep and required airport staff to shave down jagged edges that had the potential to puncture aircraft tires. The airport pavement was reaching the end of its life and was also being heavily affected by poor drainage and the fact that the field is built atop bay mud, which requires considerable stabilization to build upon.

According to Michael Byrne, assistant airport manager of San Mateo County Airports, the project was supposed to begin last year. Unfortunately, over the course of the period from design to bidding, the cracks and drainage issues became progressively worse. The ongoing drought in California had caused the bay mud to dry, which resulted in the edges of the pavement being pulled into the infield. That’s when it became clear that the planned work was not going to fix the issues.

As a result, San Mateo County Airports had to return the FAA grant, cancel the contract, and start over.

Fast forward to today, the airport has received an $11.5 million grant, and the improvement project is well underway. More than 32,000 cubic yards of pavement and soil will be removed or treated. Lights, signs, and wiring have been removed; the soil has been prepped and strengthened; and repaving has begun.

Updating all airport lighting to LED lights was another priority for the airports division. “One of our leading PG&E bills is from the airfield lighting, they’re all currently incandescent, so switching them all to LED is going to be a huge cost savings down the road as well,” Byrne said. The airport will receive 41 new LED signs and 323 new LED lights, more than 37,000 linear feet of wire will be replaced, and more than 14,268 linear feet of new conduit will be installed.

The project will occur in three phases. The first consists of a 30-day full aerodrome closure which started September 11 and is expected to end October 11. The second and third planned phases will include a 15-day night closure of the west and east sides of the airport, respectively.

Gretchen Kelly, County of San Mateo airports manager, credits the success of this project to continuous communication with the local airport district offices, inviting FAA officials to the airport and showing them the deterioration, as well as making minimal to no changes to the airport's five-year Airports Capital Improvement Plan.