Florence Municipal Airport Lighting Improvements Project

Beginning Monday, March 18, 2019, the long-awaited Florence Municipal Airport lighting improvements project will begin. During the course of construction, the airport will be closed 10am – 8pm Monday through Friday. The airport runway will be open Saturdays and Sundays; however, the lights and navigational aids will not be operational. This includes the airport beacon and lighted wind cone. The lighting project continues through May 16, 2019.

The project was originally scheduled to begin March 4, 2019, however with the unforeseen recent weather challenges in the Willamette and Umpqua valley areas (the contractor’s base of operations is in the Cascade foothills outside of Roseburg), including electrical and telecommunications outages, the contractor needed additional time to mobilize their equipment and supplies to Florence.

The Airport Lighting Improvement project is a federal, state and locally funded project. The total project cost is $1,166,666 with the Federal Aviation Administration providing 90% or $1,050,000 towards funding the project. The City also received a Critical Oregon Airport Relief (COAR) grant from the Oregon Department of Aviation for $103,000 and the remaining $13,666 for the project will come from the City of Florence.

The project includes removal of the existing MIRL (Medium Intensity Runway Light) system and installation of a new MIRL system; removal of an existing PAPI (Precision Approach Pathway Indicator) system; installation of a new PAPI for each runway approach; installation of new REIL’s (Runway End Indicator Light) for each runway approach; installation of airport lighted guidance signs; installation of taxiway elevated reflectors; electrical room modifications; miscellaneous incidental electrical improvements; and AGIS (Airport Geographic Information System) survey.

“The federal and state grants allow us to replace all the runway electrical systems: runway lights, approach path lighting, lighted guidance signs for the taxiway and runway, and elevated taxiway reflectors,” said Mike Miller, Public Works Director. “The current electrical system is over 30 years old and with our harsh, corrosive ocean environment, has outlived its useful life. This replacement and upgrade, which includes LED lighting, will result in better performance and lower maintenance costs. The end result of these lighting upgrades will be a safer and more efficient airport.”

We are very pleased to have the same contractor, Kunert Electric, which recently completed a very similar lighting upgrade project at Bandon State Airport. Our engineer and inspector from Century West Engineering were involved with the Bandon State Airport project and reported that the project was very successful. The City has high confidence that the Florence Municipal Airport lighting upgrades project will experience the same results.

For additional details about the Florence Municipal Airport Lighting Upgrades Project, call City of Florence Public Works at 541-997-4106.