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Qikiqtarjuaq airport reopens, again Casey Lessard Northern News Services Published Monday, June 25, 2012
"Still only Twin Otters (can use the strip)," hamlet finance director Rikki Butt told the community on Facebook June 16. "It flooded again last night so we are waiting for crews that are chartering in on Monday afternoon." The airstrip had been damaged by a flood June 5, and another flood the following day damaged the road to the sewage lagoon and dump, though the hamlet was able to get one lane open again. A warm spell triggered the June 15 flood, Nunavut Airports director Shawn Maley said. "Just over a week after Nunavut Airports fixed flooding damage to the Qikiqtarjuaq airstrip, crews had to return to the community to deal with a second flood June 15 that closed the airport to scheduled flights for a week. "Still only Twin Otters (can use the strip)," hamlet finance director Rikki Butt told the community on Facebook June 16. "It flooded again last night so we are waiting for crews that are chartering in on Monday afternoon." The airstrip had been damaged by a flood June 5, and another flood the following day damaged the road to the sewage lagoon and dump, though the hamlet was able to get one lane open again. A warm spell triggered the June 15 flood, Nunavut Airports director Shawn Maley said. "It was 16 C there, they got 13 cm of rain, and a bunch of snow on the mountain let go in one big deluge again and went roughshod through the community," Maley said. "It washed out the roads again, and hit the corner of the airport and flooded the airport again. So all the work we had done a couple weeks prior, we lost it all in one shot." Planes could still use about 853 metres (2,800 feet) of runway, enough for small planes such as Twin Otters, Pilatus PC12s and King Airs. A crew of 10, including steamers and electricians, arrived June 18 by charter and set to work clearing the floodwaters from the rest of the runway, sending scalding hot water through culverts to clear ice, Maley said June 20. "They re-jammed up with ice in the middle and greatly restricted the flow," he said. "We sent in a really heavy-duty steamer and operator, and the first thing we did was open those culverts. As soon as we opened the culverts, the water they were handling was increased by four times. That basically got rid of all the water on the runway." He expected the strip would reopen for scheduled flights June 21. "Two weeks from now we have a drainage expert going in there to look at what we've got," Maley said, noting that based on information from the community, "he thinks we can do some vast improvements." Crews were troubleshooting June 21 ahead of the reopening the runway that day. The cleanup effort was expected to cost $250,000 for both runway floods, Maley said. "We're thinking we're good for this year," he said hopefully. "The local people tell us most of the snow on the mountain is gone now. With the culverts wide open now, we think we're going to be OK."
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