Georgetown, Del., Oct. 6, 2008: Paving work for a new crosswind runway at the Sussex County Airport is scheduled to begin this week, and should be completed by mid- to late October, moving the approximately $5.5 million project one step closer to completion.

Paving crews for the next two weeks will lay down more than 3,100 linear feet of asphalt, up to 3 inches thick, for the new crosswind runway. The runway will serve as a secondary airstrip at the airport east of Georgetown, giving pilots an additional landing and take-off option. Also included in the project is the construction of adjoining taxiways to connect the airstrip to the airport’s 5,000-foot-long main runway and other parts of the complex.

“The aviation community is extremely excited about this project, and even more excited that we are now moving toward the final stages of completion,” said Jim Hickin, airport manager. “We, too, are excited to bring this to the flying public, and to the citizens of Sussex County.”

After curing occurs and runway markings are applied, the landing strip should be ready for use by year’s end, Mr. Hickin said.

Work on the project began in late 2006 with the demolition of Runway 10/28, an abandoned strip that was one of three originally built in the 1940s at the former Navy airfield. Last used by aircraft in the 1970s, the old runway’s concrete surface was demolished and the footprint redesigned for the new crosswind runway. Reconstruction began last year.

A crosswind runway is a strip secondary to an airport’s main runway. Pilots can use an alternate landing and take-off option when winds are coming from a direction other than the predominant wind flow for a particular airport.

The new asphalt-surface runway will be 3,109 feet long and 75 feet wide. More than 90 percent of funding for the project is coming through the Federal Aviation Administration, with the Sussex County Council contributing $369,983 and the State of Delaware funding the rest.

This month’s paving work will require some nighttime restrictions at the airfield, Mr. Hickin said. The aviation community will be notified, via official FAA Notices to Airmen and by airport staff, when closures are scheduled.

The Sussex County Airport, owned and managed by the Sussex County government, is a general aviation field that records more than 50,000 landings and take-offs annually, and is popular with a mix of small private and large commercial-type aircraft.

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