At approximately 11:15 a.m. May 5, the first jet touched
down on the newly refurbished and recently reopened 11,550-foot runway at Joint
Base San Antonio-Lackland’s Kelly Field, following a two-month airfield
closure.
Coordination surrounding the closure of Air Education and
Training Command’s only around-the-clock joint use airfield has been ongoing
for about two years, culminating with the return of the Texas Air National
Guard’s 149th Fighter Wing.
The temporary closure allowed three separate construction
projects uninterrupted time to work on the runway. This is no easy feat as six
Air Force wings across three major commands, as well as the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, were involved in this undertaking.
Additionally, coordination with the City of San Antonio and
the Federal Aviation Administration was abundant leading up to and during the
closure. Coordination even went so far as to include a foreign government.
The two-month closure allowed for significant progress on a
$3.5 million project to replace various areas of pavement throughout the
airfield. The 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron and 502nd Contracting Squadron
teams were able to re-engage this contract numerous times in order to get the
most out of the U.S. taxpayers money.
For the runway to reopen, their teams were able to replace a
total of 45 concrete slabs on the runway, which is an increase of 55 percent
over the original amount to be completed at no cost.
The closure also allowed contractors for an $8.4 million
lighting replacement contract ample time to complete three out of the proposed
five phases of that project.
The work being done on this project will bring Kelly Field
into both Air Force and FAA standards in terms of runway width and lighting,
which has been a long time coming. Additional light replacements around the airfield
will increase the longevity of the equipment and decrease the airfields’ energy
footprint thanks to the installation of the new LED light fixtures.
To round out the construction, a $4.4 million airfield
maintenance contract was wrapped up after new runway markings were applied to
the entire 11,550-foot runway. These markings, along with the new runway
lighting, create a standardized “view-from-the-top” for the many aircrews that
utilize Kelly Field. The runway will now appear no different from any other
runway.
The teamwork that went into these projects positions
the 502nd Air Base Wing to facilitate any mission related to the defense of the
nation for many years to come.