OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- The Air Force Civil Engineer Center recently awarded a $143.9 million contract to replace the runway here.
The project is a collaborative effort between AFCEC, Offutt and the Air Force Installation Contracting Center.
AFCEC and AFICC's 772nd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron will oversee the project and Gilbane Federal of Concord, California, will complete the construction of the new runway. The project reconstructs the original runway infrastructure, built in 1941, to include full-depth concrete end sections, an asphalt center section and asphalt shoulders as well as installation of new lighting systems.
As AFCEC’s Facility Engineering Directorate oversees the execution of the project, they also provide design and planning, and ensures the project stays on time, within budget, delivering timely and 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. David Norton, director of the facility engineering directorate. “The runway is more than 70 years old and has fallen into disrepair. We have incorporated modern design and construction techniques to rebuild the runway and to ensure the longest lifespan at the overall lowest lifecycle cost.”
Offutt, home of the 55th Wing, provides intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic attack missions that serve all Department of Defense branches. In order to provide rapid global mobility, the base needs a reliable, safe runway that meets the dimensions and weight-bearing capacity for its aircraft.
During the two-year project, the 55th Wing’s fleet will conduct flight operations out of Lincoln Airport, roughly 50 miles away in Nebraska's capitol city. Funded by AFCEC, preparations are underway by Lincoln Airport Authority to provide an alternate location for Offutt's aircraft while the base's runway is replaced. The LAA is making necessary adjustment to its airfield and facilities -- with a completion date of Aug. 1 -- to accommodate Offutt’s operations.
“The 55th Wing’s mission is to provide, dominant intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and nuclear command, control and communications, any time, any place, and by replacing Offutt’s runway, we are ensuring that we will continue to answer our nation’s call as we have done for decades,” said Col. Gavin Marks, 55th Wing commander.