Yellowknife (Sep 19/03) - Pilots are making smoother landings at the Inuvik airport following a new coat of asphalt on the runway.

Over the past two years $7.5 million was spent at the Mike Zubko Airport to improve drainage, resurface the runway, built a garage and install new approach lighting.

Airport manager Karen King said the runway hasn't seen a facelift since it was built.

"This was the first overlay they've had since the airport was first constructed," King said.

The airport was built in 1957, with some upgrades in the mid-1970s.

"The runway held up really well, despite concerns with regard to the permafrost," she said.

After the runway was first built, they installed three underground temperature sensors and monitored the temperature for 30 years to see if there was any movement in the asphalt.

"For 30 years, there was no movement, so they quit monitoring it," King said.

There was some damage done from poor drainage, but that was corrected last year.

"There is a pond in the infield and water wasn't draining away from the runway and going under the base, so the permafrost was actually starting to drop," she explained. New culverts were installed and the water is now diverted away from the airfield.

"There was no point in coming in to do the overlay, without treating the drainage problem first," she said.

Another upgrade to the airport was the construction of a new operation and maintenance garage.

The 822-square metre building will replace a 40 year-old structure used to service and maintain all the airport equipment and vehicles. The price tag on the new building was $1.7 million.

Last summer there was a $1.5 million high-intensity approach lighting system installed which replaced hundreds of bulbs on the old system.

"The one we had was fairly antique, so this was replaced with federal government assistance money," King said.

Transportation Minister Joe Handley said the upgrades to the Inuvik airport are timely and he expects to see much more traffic with the pending oil and gas boom.

"We always measure the success of anything not so much the compliments of the airlines, but by the fact that they don't complain," Handley said. "I can't think of one complaint I've ever had about the operations at the Inuvik airport."