The skies above Dover will soon be abuzz with more airplanes. One of Dover Air Force Base’s main runways will reopen Friday after a year and half of repairs.
The two runways at Dover Air Force Base crisscross like an X, so planes can land from any of the four cardinal directions. The renovation of runway 01-19 wasn’t fully felt until February of this year. That’s when construction hit the intersection of the two runways.
“It’s had a huge impact. We had to displace our C-5M fleet. Since February of 2016 they’ve been at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst," said Lt. Colonel Charles Throckmorton, an advisor on the runway project.
He said the smaller C-17 cargo planes and empty C-5 planes have been able to land on a bisected leg of the base’s other runway (14-32). But a fully-loaded C-5 plane is too heavy for the shortened runway.
So they’ve been landing at McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst base in New Jersey and shipping their cargo to Dover by truck. Air crew, mechanics and some logistics personnel have followed the operations to New Jersey during construction.
But starting Friday, all planes, crew and their coinciding operations will return to Dover.
The renovated runway will have a new hardened concrete surface, improved markings, updated lighting and a digital approach system. It’s expected to extend the life of the 70-year-old runway another half century.
Construction will now shift to runway 14-32, which is expected to be complete by summer of 2017.
Costs of the runway renovation is estimated at $112 million.