Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority, Yeager Airport, Runway 5 Improvements

Burns was part of a team which provided a permanent solution to repair and restore Yeager Airport’s Runway 5 following the 2015 mechanical slope failure of the mountain. The collapse caused damage to the runway’s engineered material arresting system (EMAS), airfield ground lighting systems and to FAA facilities power and communication lines.

This event impacted the airports ability to provide a compliant runway safety area and the airports aircraft approach category for Runway 5-23. The solution was to build a retaining wall to reestablish the mountain and the full length of the runway. Burns was responsible for design of the airfield ground lighting systems and NAVAIDS which were disrupted.

During the interim time, the runway was temporarily displaced to allow for a complaint runway safety area. To accomplish this the airfield ground lighting systems, including runway edge lights, distance remaining signs and visual NAVAIDS, had to be modified.

Due to the extreme topography of the area, it was a challenge to identify the appropriate locations for the Instrument Landing system (ILS). Through simulated modeling and collaboration with the FAA engineering technical center the proper locations were established with minor adjustments.

The final process included the full design of the AGL system for the full length of the runway and new FAA power and communication distribution and infrastructure. The airport requested Burns to act as owner representative for the FAA flight inspection, Joint Acceptance Inspection, and the Construction Acceptance inspection.