Joint Base Charleston Reopens Main Runway Wednesday

Military officials will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7, to mark the completion of major construction efforts on Joint Base Charleston’s main runway.

Officials will be joined by DWG & Associates, the primary construction contractor and the Charleston County Aviation Authority to recognize the event.

The construction project began last summer to replace the aging main runway, which was over 50 years old.  The original runway was safely kept in service by routine inspections and conducting spot repairs.  However, the runway was well beyond its originally programmed service life and was in need of replacement.

The newly constructed runway is 9,000 feet long, 150-feet wide and 18-inches thick at a cost of over $40 million.

The runways at Joint Base Charleston are part of a dual-use airfield and are shared with the Charleston County Aviation Authority and private industry.  The new runway will be capable of supporting Air Force mission requirements and also serve the local community.

In addition, the project added high efficiency LED lighting fixtures, improved infrastructure for navigational aids and an updated aircraft arresting system used to safely recover fighter aircraft experiencing mechanical issues.

Large-scale construction efforts for the new runway are now complete.  However, a small number of minor tasks are still scheduled for completion.  These tasks include erosion-control measures and final Federal Aviation Administration certification of the Instrument Landing System.

Air traffic patterns at Joint Base Charleston will return pre-construction levels with flight patterns based on wind direction and weather conditions.