Massive runway construction underway at IND airport
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A major runway construction project is now underway at the Indianapolis International Airport. Airport officials say these changes are critical for travelers and the world’s second largest FedEx operation.
“Air transportation is absolutely fundamental to our local, regional, and national economies,” the regional administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Elliot Black, said.
The Indianapolis International Airport is getting a new runway to support the soaring demand for air travel.
“A lot of people are traveling. We’re back up to probably 80% of prepandemic levels, and we’ll probably go up to 100% in the next few years,” the director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, Mario Rodriguez, said.
To the tune of $190 million, the project aims to to enhance capacity for an existing runway and the initial construction and electrical phase of a taxiway.
The project is broken up into three phases. This year, the project focuses on reconstructing the middle of the runway. Rodriguez said, “Then next year, we take out one of the ends, and then the following year we take out the other end, and we put it back into operation.”
The existing concrete will be recycled into the new runway pavement section and a new concrete that captures carbon dioxide to reduce emissions. The extra inch of concrete will double the life cycle of the runway to 40 years.
“Aircrafts are getting bigger. They’re getting heavier and FedEx just bought a brand new fleet of triple 7 aircrafts, which are very modern, but they tend to be heavier than the previous generation aircraft,” Rodriguez said.
According to Black, last year the airport received about 2.9 billion pounds of air cargo. “You can’t do that without a runway that is properly designed and constructed and operated and maintained to support that staggering weight,” Black said.
The project will also create more than 2,700 jobs and bring diverse businesses. Airport officials say they will have enough capacity to operate flights during construction.
Construction is expected to be complete in 2024.