Crews complete first phase of Glacier airport runway project

Commercial flights returned to Glacier Park International Airport at 9 a.m. Friday after a four-day closure of the primary runway for scheduled maintenance.

The monthlong runway rehabilitation project is ahead of schedule, airport officials said, following 88 hours of nonstop work by more than 150 workers. Dry and hot weather allowed crews to maintain an aggressive schedule.

"This was a great start to the project,” said Airport Director Rob Ratkowski. “We safely completed an incredible amount of work and reopened the runway ahead of schedule. This achievement was only possible because of the extraordinary dedication of our crews and staff, who worked tirelessly to deliver this result.”

The maintenance work is expected to continue through the end of the month. The runway will be closed from 6 p.m. Monday to 10 a.m. Friday while work is underway. The small-aircraft runway will remain open throughout the project, except during the July 27-31 closure period.

“With three closure periods still ahead, we're grateful for everyone's patience as we continue making these critical improvements,” Ratkowski said.

During the first phase of the project, construction crews demolished about 10,000 square yards of pavement, placed 14,500 tons of asphalt and hauled more than 1,100 truckloads of material. Crews also replaced several in-pavement runway weather information system sensors, as well as conduits and cable pathways that support runway lighting and communication systems.

While the primary runway was closed, the airport used the crosswind runway for medical, cargo, private, charter and flight-training operations.

Glacier Park International Airport's main runway was last replaced 17 years ago and had been showing signs of deterioration.