The project in this article received McDEVCO loan in 2008, and is now part of the CWED loan portfolio.
La Crosse Municipal Restores Wetlands, Saves Fishery to Extend Taxiway
Extending a taxiway can be a fairly straightforward project: crews prepare land, pour concrete and, voila, it's ready for traffic.
That wasn't the case at La Crosse Municipal Airport (LSE) in Wisconsin. The extension of its Taxiway F stretched over 10 years and cost $13.87 million. Before the complex project was complete, crews filled more than 8.5 acres of lake and adjoining wetlands; a system was devised to pump oxygenated water into a lagoon on an island in the middle of the Mississippi River to save fish; and the airport purchased, restored and maintained a wet meadow and waterfowl pond two counties away.
At times, airport manager Dan Wruck questioned whether he would be around to see the project completed.
Why Bother?
In 1989, LSE relocated its terminal from the east side to the west side of the airport. Approximately half of the parallel taxiway feeding the airport's primary Runway 18-36 was constructed along the southern half of the runway on the west side of the field to provide access to the terminal apron. Because the remaining portion of the taxiway was already located along the northern half of the runway on the east side of the field, aircraft had to cross 18-36 during taxiing operations. Safety concerns prompted the FAA to suggest that the airport construct a full parallel taxiway along the west side of the field.
"We always knew that our goal was to have a continuous taxiway on the west side of the airfield," Wruck explains. "But we started looking at the project in earnest back in 2001 when pavement surveys showed that the parallel taxiway on the east side was going to require reconstruction. We determined that we'd be further ahead if we extended Taxiway F on the west side."
At that point, the "only problem" was a lake standing in the way.
Read the full article: http://www.airportimprovement.com/content/story_result.php?article=00306
