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Boston Logan: Wheels-up on $93 million runway improvement projects
Runway Closure to put 150 construction workers on the job

BOSTON -- The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) today announced a summer closure of runway 15R/33L at Boston Logan International Airport to complete Runway Safety Area (RSA) construction at the approach of Runway 33L. The RSA project began last summer and will be completed this construction season beginning with daily closures in May followed by a complete runway closure starting on or about June 15, through late September, and ending with daily closures in October and November. Total cost of RSA construction is approximately $73 million and will create approximately 70 construction jobs.

At the same time runway 15R/33L is closed for RSA construction, Massport will resurface the 10,083 foot runway, last resurfaced in phases in 1991 and 1996. The $20 million project will create 80 construction jobs and utilize “warm mix” asphalt which is heated to between 250 and 275 degrees, some 75 to 50 degrees less than traditional “hot mix”. Warm mix asphalt includes 18 percent recycled asphalt pavement, resulting in a reduction of carbon dioxide by approximately 4,500 tons, savings of diesel fuel of approximately 450,000 gallons and a savings of 62 billion BTU’s.

Runway Safety Areas are a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defined safety surface designed to reduce the risk of damage to an aircraft in the event of an undershoot, overshoot, or exit from the runway. RSAs do not extend runways or have any impact on normal runway operations, runway capacity, or types of aircraft that can use the existing runways.

“The RSA is a much needed public safety enhancement for Logan Airport that we look forward to seeing complete,” said Director of Aviation Edward C. Freni. “We are taking advantage of the scheduled closure of the runway to move forward with the resurfacing project. This will reduce future construction-related closures and reduce costs.”

The enhanced RSA will extend the existing Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) bed to a total of 500 feet. EMAS is a technology designed to safely stop a jumbo jet entering the RSA at 70 knots. Massport will also take advantage of the runway closure to replace the wooden light pier at the end of Runway 33L. The runway is the main northwest wind runway for the airport and the closure is scheduled in the summer, when winds are typically southwesterly.

Since 2006, the airport has been operating with an interim, EMAS arresting system until it could get approval and funding to extend the safety area by means of a concrete pile supported deck that would extend into Boston Harbor but within Logan’s 500- foot restricted security zone. Once completed, the runway 33L RSA will extend the length of the existing RSA from 187.5 feet to a total of 600 feet and include a pier built on concrete piles.

The FAA requires that commercial airports provide standard RSAs where feasible. The existing RSA for runway 33L does not meet FAA minimum standards. Congress has mandated that all commercial service airports improve their RSAs to meet FAA minimum standards to the extent feasible, by 2015. To achieve this goal, FAA’s current Airport Capital Improvement Program for Boston Logan has allocated funding for the completion of Runway 33L RSA construction no later than 2013.

Boston Logan, 15 minutes from the intersection of Route 128 and I-90 and five minutes from downtown Boston, serves as the gateway to the New England region and offers nonstop service to 72 domestic and 31 international destinations and in 2011 handled 28.9 million passengers. Boston Logan is the Air Line Pilot Association’s Airport of the Year for 2008 because of its commitment to safety. Over the past decade, the airport spent $4.5 billion on a modernization program that includes new terminals, public transportation access, parking facilities, roadways and airport concessions, and has been transformed into a world-class 21st Century facility. The airport generates $7 billion in total economic impact each year.

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The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) owns and operates Boston Logan International Airport, public terminals in the Port of Boston, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport. Massport is a financially self-sustaining public authority whose premier transportation facilities generate more than $8 billion annually, and enhance and enable economic growth and vitality in New England. No state tax dollars are used to fund operations or capital improvements at Massport facilities.

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