Port issues bid call for runway rebuild

Spray planes load up last Friday morning at the Colfax Airport.

Colfax airport, now officially known as the Port of Whitman Business Air Center, will be closed from the end of July through October for a major construction project.

Debbie Snell, Port of Whitman County Properties and Development Manager, reported to port commissioners at their March 19 meeting that the project is scheduled to go out to bid today, March 26.

Estimated cost of the project will be $2.3 million.

Bids will be opened April 23.

“There’s a lot of contractors interested,” Snell told the board. “We’re hoping for very competitive bids.”

Snell said that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will pay 90 percent of the project costs, with the port paying five percent. The port will apply to the Washington State Department of Transportation for a grant to cover the other five percent of the project.

The cost includes engineering, construction and testing. Snell said a variety of tests will be conducted during construction on materials, soil and compaction because the project is being built to FAA standards.

An FAA engineer in September of 2013 told port commissioners that the FAA core samples taken from the 3,210-foot runway in 2011 found a high water table with layers of clay and silt and no base for the runway.

The engineer also told commissioners at that time that when the project is complete, the estimated life of the newly constructed runway, with regular maintenance, will be at least 20 years.

The project will begin with grinding off the existing asphalt, followed by excavation of the new runway area which will be widened to the FAA standard of 60 feet. All new drainage will be installed, along with new electrical conduit and lights, a new illuminated wind cone and