BENNINGTON — A Florence contractor is the low bidder for a major runway reconstruction project at William Morse State Airport in Bennington.
According to figures provided by the project design firm, Passero Associates of Rochester, N.Y., Markowski Excavating Inc. submitted a low bid of $3.9 million. Other bidders included Casella Construction Inc., of Mendon, which submitted a bid of $4.56 million, and Rifenburg Construction Inc., of Troy, N.Y., which bid $4.86 million for the project.
Mary Kay Genthner, senior airport engineer with the project design firm, said the Vermont Agency of Transportation will be the entity awarding the project when the time comes, as the airport owner.
She said a contract for the reconstruction project, which is expected to cost a total of around $5 million, will be funded by the Federal Aviation Administration in mid- to late summer. The FAA is expected to issue 90 percent funding for the work, while the state is expected to cover 10 percent of the cost.
The runway project was designed primarily to improve safety and replace a runway surface that is overdue for reconstruction. The project includes a taxiway along half of the length of the 3,704-foot runway, grading and a 100-foot extension of the unpaved safety zone at the end of the runway, and a new airport lighting system.
The runway was built in 1982 and both the surface and its lighting system are nearing the end of their lifespans, officials have said.
Reconstruction will extend to the base of the 75-foot-wide runway and will include a new subsurface drainage system. The lighting system will include new wiring and a control unit set outside the airport office building.
Lighting is typically activated by pilots from aircraft and turns off automatically after about 15 minutes.
The facility will be closed for at least 90 days during reconstruction, officials have said.
Installation of a new fuel storage facility, with much larger fuel tanks, is planned to coincide with the runway project, and there is a proposal to construct a new hangar.
There are no current plans to extend the runway, and it will continue to accommodate the same size aircraft. Those include smaller private craft and turboprops up to the size of a Beechcraft King Air, along with some of the smaller corporate jets, such as the Cessna Citation.
