Sundt Construction, Inc., and its joint venture partner MRM Construction Services (MRM/Sundt), announced the recent completion of the reconstruction of the runway at Biggs Army Airfield, adjacent to Fort Bliss.
“We are proud to be part of providing the U.S. Army with this modernized runway to help them continue to be a strategically important military asset,” said Mark Soyster, Sundt’s El Paso area manager for the Transportation Group.
Sundt officials share that the $47 million runway reconstruction project consists of approximately12,000 linear feet of runway replacement and repair, scaling down the runway to better suit modern aircraft. The runway was built in the early 1960s with a wide footprint to accommodate B-52 Bombers.
In the reconstruction completed by MRM/Sundt, the runway kept its length but narrowed its width. Repairing and reconfiguring the runway required 531,000 pounds of rebar and 66,000 cubic yards of concrete.
Officials share that the MRM/Sundt team used the “double strike off” paving method, which was the joint venture’s first time using the technique. The method involved using two paving machines simultaneously. After the first paving machine consolidated the first lift of concrete, a mat of reinforcement steel was placed on top of the first lift. When that was complete, a second paving machine consolidated the remaining lift of concrete.
Sundt has a long history of military paving projects. At Minot Air Force Base in Minot, North Dakota, the company completed a $33 million runway replacement project in 2014.
Previous to that project, Sundt constructed a $23 million apron and taxiway at Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis, New Mexico. Additionally, the company added a $3 million taxiway, apron and runway extension at Michael Army Airfield in Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah, and a $24 million Auxiliary Landing Field for the F-35B aircraft at Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona.
