With the Federal Aviation Administration deeming the Hollister
Municipal Airport’s runway ditches as hazards, the city has
requested bids
– which are due April 30 – for a plan to replace them with
subsurface storm drains.
HOLLISTER
With the Federal Aviation Administration deeming the Hollister Municipal Airport’s runway ditches as hazards, the city has requested bids – which are due April 30 – for a plan to replace them with subsurface storm drains.
The FAA and Caltrans found that ditches running along the two runways at the airport no longer meet safety requirements, while the federal government has agreed to fund the project to have them removed, said Mike Chambless, the airport manager and code enforcement officer.
“If an airplane left a runway, they like it nice and flat,” Chambless said. “If it hits a ditch, normally what happens is the landing gear gets sliced off.”
Ditches run along both sides of the longest runway, which is 6,500 feet, and one side of the smaller runway, which is 3,150 feet, he said.
Hollister will receive money from the FAA – this year to conduct planning and in 2010 to install storm drains – to complete the project that has been in the works for about a year. Chambless said he preferred to withhold revealing dollar amounts because it could affect the bidding process.
To view the request for proposal on the drainage project, go here.
For an expanded version of this story, see Tuesday’s Free Lance.
