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Work on airport runway rehab temporarily stopped
CPA pushes back completion date to May 2013
The Commonwealth Ports Authority temporarily stopped work at the main runway of the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport while it awaits approval of its latest funding request for the project.
Acting CPA executive director Derek Sasamoto confirmed the work stoppage with Saipan Tribune yesterday, saying they have yet to get a response from the Federal Aviation Administration about the latest change order for the multi-million project.
He declined to cite the specific amount CPA is asking for under the change order, which is the sixth for the project.
Not taking into account the latest funding request, the rehabilitation of the main runway-called Runway 7/25-has already cost $21 million, fully funded by the FAA under the federal agency’s airport improvement project program. Of this amount, about $7.8 million was due to several change orders and supplemental agreements.
It has been over 25 years since the airport’s main runway was first built.
The contractor for the new project is Guam Pacific Power Corporation Inc.
Based on CPA records, construction work was temporarily stopped since March this year following discovery of some problems that warrant a new design. CPA discovered a 4-inch deep crack in the middle of the runway. It has also been found that the contractor has been following an obsolete design that is about 6 years old.
CPA confirmed yesterday that with the latest change order, submitted last week, the full completion of the project is expected to occur in May 2013, assuming everything works fine with FAA.
The Saipan runway project was initiated in 2009 and includes, among others, milling of the existing runway, taxiway, blast pad, and shoulder pavements, asphalt concrete overlay, and other works.
The original target completion was in October 2011 but this was pushed back to February 2012 and then again to June 2012. CPA confirmed that the delay in the full completion of the project is mainly because of these change orders.
