POWBAC project delayed while crews repair drainage problem

Motley & Motley construction crews are expected to be at the Colfax airport for at least another two weeks to fix unforeseen issues with tile lines which have caused water to surface around the $1.8 million runway project at the Port of Whitman County Business Air Center. The runway paving, however, has been completed, and temporary striping has been painted.

The Port of Whitman County Business Air Center, originally expected to re-open this week after more than two months of construction, will remain closed for at least two more weeks while tile lines are repaired.

Port Executive Director Joe Poiré reported at the regular port meeting Oct. 1 that the project was delayed due to drain line breaks which occured when crews were grading a section of the wheat field at the east end of the runway.

“The wheat field grade was the original condition out there,” said Poiré. “Federal FAA regulations specify that the ground must be at a slope going down from the runway.”

The original grade was sloping upward at about one percent, Poiré said.

Port Commissioner John Love said the issue has caused water to surface around the project.

“You will have the only airport with a moat,” Love joked at the commissioner's meeting.

Commissioner Tom Kammerzell reported that additional construction will occur to fix the unforeseen tile line trouble.

“You do not want to create a wetland by the airport,” he said. “The repair will have the water run underneath the runway, and we won't have a wetland.”

Poiré said if left unfixed the drainage would attract deer, birds and frogs, among other wildlife.

“Things you don't want in your propellor,” he said.

Poiré said the standing water was extensive, even with a drought year.

“There was standing water in there in a drought year in September,” he said.

Work to redirect the water is expected to start this week, and the estimated cost is currently not known.

Poiré said the crews will put in some fabric and culvert pipes as well as dirt and rock to have the water travel under the rocks.

“It is basically building a runway for the water underground,” Commissioner Kammerzell said.

Aside from the drainage issue, the rest of the project is concluding on schedule, Poiré said.

“The (runway) is paved, the temporary striping is on and it looks wonderful,” he said.