Scramble to fix runways
Crews have to move quickly in Pangnirtung, Sanikiluaq and Kugluktuk
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 18, 2013
NUNAVUT
Runways in three communities were recently spruced up prior to winter setting in.
A Canadian North aircraft lands in Pangnirtung on Sept. 18. The runway in the community has been partially resurfaced to provide smoother landings for aircraft. - Myles Dolphin/NNSL photo
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Travellers going to Pangnirtung, Sanikiluaq and Kugluktuk will experience smoother landings from now on after work was carried out to replace worn sections of those runways.
Nunavut Airports Division had identified the runways as needing maintenance during the construction season.
A crew of six left Sanikiluaq on Oct. 16, the third destination, after spending four days on the resurfacing work.
The hamlet's senior administrative officer, Andre Larabie, said the improvements to the runway make a huge difference.
"We found that with all the rain we've been getting and not having a proper compactor in the community, it was causing dips in the strip," he said.
"Now the surface is smooth. The runway's condition before was unacceptable; you could land but it was rough."
The crew arrived on Oct. 12 and went to work the next day, laying and compacting approximately 200 loads of crushed stone on the runway in strategic spots.
They had to get out of the way when aircraft approached the community and were usually left with 20-minute windows in between landings.
Todd McKay, assistant director of airport operations for the government of Nunavut, said conditions vary at Nunavut's airports and the effects of wear and tear ultimately affect all runways.
"These were the three runways that stood out this year in need of some TLC before winter," he said.
"We decided to put some guys together and send them there with the intention of doing training and ultimately accomplishing a mini-overlay on those runways. We're now in a comfortable position knowing there aren't any concerns with those three locations."
Work was also being undertaken at a fourth airport, in Grise Fiord, before the contractor – ATCO – was forced to leave because of bad weather conditions.
The summer construction season in the High Arctic community is much shorter than anywhere else in the territory, which left a very small window for crews to complete the resurfacing there.
McKay said equipment was mobilized and assembled in the community in the summer of 2012. Roughly 300 cubic metres of gravel was removed and an area for crushing gravel was prepared.
This past July, the screening process began and by Aug. 25 they had more than 2,000 cubic metres of material ready.
By the time they were ready to work on the runway, they had to leave because of the weather.
"In Sanikiluaq, Pangnirtung and Kugluktuk we have stockpiles of material on hand that was resourced years ago," he said.
"We don't have that stockpile in Grise Fiord. We have a certain specification for the gravel we use for this work and it is more difficult to find. In Grise Fiord, in between finding the proper amount of sand and the right quantities of it, it took some time to get stockpiles assembled before crushing."
McKay said the report submitted by ATCO included a comment to the extent that the company had never seen a shorter construction season in the High Arctic before.
The plan moving forward is to go back to the community next June, make sure the equipment is operating properly and complete work on the runway, McKay added.
