Agnes Sutherland Naquin
September 30, 2008October 2
October 2, 2008
The South Lafourche Airport in Galliano will be receiving $4.6 million in federal funds to construct part of a taxiway running parallel to the 6,500-foot runway, said Airport Manager Jason Duet.
The Federal Aviation Adminis-tration previously awarded the airport $2.6 million to build the taxiway. Last week, the FAA added $2 million more.
The airport currently has only a connector taxiway running from the apron to the runway. The $4.6 million will fund construction of 3,000 feet of the new taxiway.
Construction of the taxiway culminates a years-long, four-phase effort by the Greater Lafourche Port Commission to make improvements to the general aviation (smaller aircraft) facility.
Duet said an instrument landing system providing precision guidance to aircraft approaching the runway has been approved as an eligible project by the FAA, but the airport has only completed engineering work on that project.
When the Port Commission bought the airport in 2002, Port Director Ted Falgout saw the airport – located 30 miles from Port Fourchon – as a support facility for the port. Almost two-thirds of the aircraft using the facility are local.
When it was acquired, the runway – built in the 1970s – was 3,800 feet long and could support 10,000 pounds. The airport had no fueling capability.
Since then, the runway has been extended to 6,500 feet and the load-bearing capacity has increased to 75,000 pounds. Duet has said the runway load-bearing capacity needs to increase to 138,000 pounds. The airport’s apron was also strengthened to bear the same load as the runway.
The airport now has two 10,000-gallon gasoline tanks for fueling, a hangar and a new runway lighting system, installed as part of Phase Three of the improvement plan.
Duet said the airport has completed 80 percent of the project on both sides of the runway and at its north end. Money for that project was provided by the FAA last year.
The FAA paid for most of the cost of the runway extension and the overlay required to strengthen it, but the Port Commission funded most of the cost of lengthening the strip from 5,000 to 6,500 feet.
Half the commission’s revenue is self-generated, mainly from fees paid by tenants at the port.
South Lafourche residents living in a special taxing district provide 7 percent of the commission’s revenue.
With the $4.6 million from the Federal Aviation Administration, a 3,000-foot taxiway is being built at the South Lafourche Airport in Galliano. The facility currently has only a connector taxiway running from the apron to the runway. * Photo courtesy of SOUTH LAFOURCHE AIRPORT
