The McClellan-Palomar Airport Runway Rehabilitation Project is now complete.
Testing had determined the potential for collapse of the supporting soils and pavement surface of the old runway, which could have resulted in catastrophic runway failure. County Airports had planned to renovate the existing runway in five phases of 1,000 feet each, but had funding only for the first two. In August 2009, the FAA unexpectedly came forward with funding for the entire runway renovation project, provided the County had its contracts in place by September 30, 2009. The County advertised a contract to include all five phases of construction. Hazard Construction of San Diego submitted the winning bid of $7,895,219.
The new runway is 12 inches of soil treated with cement, six inches of recycled asphalt grindings from the existing runway, and five inches of new asphalt. Contrary to some popular rumors, this project did not add a new runway to the airport, or an extension of the current 5,000-foot runway; rather it was the renovation of the old 5,000-foot runway from the ground up. The renovation has added another 20 years of use to the airport runway.
Fixed based operators (FBOs) and airport tenants were offered free aircraft parking at other County airports, and a two-month rent moratorium during construction.
The runway renovation complements the new 18,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art terminal that opened last year.
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