LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, ARK. – The Air Force Civil Engineer Center, in collaboration with Little Rock AFB, the Air Force Installation Contracting Center and Air Force Installation Mission Support Center's Detachment 9, awarded a $180 million contract May 29 to complete runway replacement at the base.
AFCEC and 772nd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron will oversee the project and Contrack ECC, LLC will execute the replacement of the base's runway. The project will replace the original runway infrastructure, built in 1956, which involves the removal of airfield obstructions and modification of lighting for eight taxiways and the landing zone.
AFCEC’s Facility Engineering Directorate will oversee the execution of the project -- providing design and planning, and ensuring the project stays on time, within budget to deliver timely, resilient infrastructure solutions.
"The Air Force depends on the technical expertise of the professionals from AFCEC and 772nd ESS to deliver quality runway and infrastructure solutions for mission commanders,” said Col. Scott Matthews, director of the facility engineering directorate. “This runway is 64 years old and we have incorporated modern design and construction techniques to ensure the longest lifespan at the overall lowest lifecycle cost.”
Little Rock AFB provides agile combat airlift worldwide and trains pilots and aircrew for all Department of Defense branches. To continue to provide rapid global mobility, the base needs a reliable, safe runway that meets the dimensions and weight-bearing capacity for its aircraft.
“This vital airfield construction project will posture Little Rock to train, receive and project combat airlift forces for generations to come,” said Col. John Schutte, 19th Airlift Wing and installation commander. "The upgrades and modifications being made to our 12,000-foot runway will improve both mission capability and safety for the largest fleet of C-130s in the world.”
Once the airfield is complete, it will be 12,000 feet long and 150 feet wide, capable of accommodating the C-130s maintained at Little Rock, as well as other aircraft in Air Mobility Command's fleet like the C-5 Galaxy, KC-10 Extender, C-17 Globemaster III and KC-135 Stratotanker.