John Ross Ferrara / Wednesday, April 20, 2022 @ 4:30 p.m. / Emergencies, Local Government
State Moving Forward on $4 Million Cape Blanco Runway and Electrical Rehabilitation Project to Fix Up WW2-Era Airport in Preparation of Anticipated Cascadia Subduction Earthquake
The airport duscusion at today's county business meeting.
The Oregon Department of Aviation is set to move forward with a $4 million plan to restore the 75-year-old runway and electrical system at the Cape Blanco State Airport in Curry County, which dates back to World War II.
The project was made possible with the passage of Oregon House Bill 5202, signed into law by Gov. Kate Brown on April 4. Among other things, the new bill allocates money from the State General Fund every other year to be used by noted state agencies and the Oregon Emergency Board.
Tony Beach, the Deputy Director of the Oregon Department of Aviation, which owns the Cape Blanco State Airport, spoke about the project at today’s Curry County Board of Commissioners meeting.
“Photos [of the runway] from late last year show extensive cracking and a point of degradation where the pavement is starting to turn to rubble,” Beach told commissioners. “The original electrical system is more or less non-existent. It does not function.”
Current runway conditions at Cape Blanco State Airport. | Photos provided by the ODA
This proposed project will not only mill and replace the entirety of the airport’s 2.5-inch runway surface, but also recompact the existing base route and install new electrical systems, which includes regulators, new runway lighting and navigational aids.
The proposed project is expected to cost the state $3,821,185, with an additional $544,455 available in contingency funds. More than $2.5 million of these funds will be provided by the state through HB 5220. The Oregon Department of Aviation has also pledged an additional $1,222,779.20 to this project. The airport is currently ineligible to receive federal funds. Upon completion, the refurbishment is expected to extend the airport’s usability by 20 to 40 years.
The remains of the airport's WW2-era electrical system.
The state and county’s eagerness to overhaul the seldom-used airport’s infrastructure is based on data that identifies the airstrip as the only runway on the Southern Coast that is likely to survive earthquakes and tsunamis caused by a major Cascadia Subduction Zone quake.
The airport also has the fourth longest runway on the Oreogn coast, and is one of Oregon’s two coastal airports with a runway wide enough to support mid and large-sized jets. The airport also supports air ambulance and search and rescue crews, and serves as the county’s official staging center for large-scale, military emergency response.
“The county has had its eye on this tremendous facility for a long time,” Commissioner Boice said. “So has the state. Other counties are looking at it in terms of the big earthquake and all that might ensue.”
In the event of a major disaster, the airport would be a lifeline for as many as 10,000 Curry County residents. However, Curry County Emergency Management Coordinator Monica Ward reminded commissioners at today’s meetings that hazard mitigation studies show that a major earthquake could destroy the county’s bridges and cause massive landslides that sever Highway 101 — effectively cutting the county’s infrastructure in half.
“Following a Cascadia event, [the government] will fly a lot of resources into that airport,” Ward said. “But we also need to look at the transportation resiliency assessment that was published last fall that shows we will likely not have any routes going south to move those resources.”
Based on county assessments, the worst landslides caused by Cascadia Subduction Zone events are expected to occur near Humbug Mountain State Park.
“The landslides that we would see there after a major earthquake would likely prevent us from ever reopening the 101 through there,” Ward said. “The state has a 5 to 6-year plan for reopening transportation routes. We’re looking at 5 to 6 years [of rebuilding Highway 101] just for Curry County. I encourage everyone to look at that assessment because it's very eye-opening for looking at planning in the future.”
The ODA plans to begin the project design process in May. If everything goes to plan, Beach said that construction could start by September of 2023, and the airport could be fully refurbished by January of 2024.
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