Joint Venture Delivers Runway Reconstruction at Biggs Army Airfield

The reconstruction of the runway at Biggs Army Airfield, located at Fort Bliss on El Paso, Texas’ eastside, has recently been completed by Sundt Construction, Inc., and its joint venture partner MRM Construction Services.

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 the team, 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.

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.

Photo courtesy of Sundt Construction.