Construction is scheduled to begin in November on a $330-million relocation of Panama City-Bay County International Airport, in Florida. Officials this month received $26 million from the Federal Aviation Administration to fund the first phase of construction. Phoenix Construction, Lynn Haven, Fla., won a $112.5-million contract for site preparation and runway paving.

CURTIS

“The wetlands (Section) 404 permit from the Army Corp of Engineers was received by the airport on Aug. 16, and that began a domino effect,” says Jeff Dealy, program manager for KBR Inc., Houston, the construction and project manager.

Randy Curtis, the airport’s executive director, anticipates Phoenix will break ground on the 30-month project by November. Tampa-based PBS&J designed the airfields.

The authority began working on relocation plans 10 years ago, after the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection objected to the airport extending the current 1940s-era runway into St. Andrews Bay. The existing airport no longer meets FAA runway safety standards.

The new 4,000-acre site, a former farm owned by The St. Joe Co., Jacksonville, is located about five miles inland (ENR 2/20/06 p. 17). The firm will donate the land. Some 10,000 acres will be set aside for mitigation.

The airport authority will award separate contracts for the control tower and 106,000-sq-ft terminal building, designed by HNTB, Kansas City. A prequalifying bid process is to start in January.

Phoenix’s contract represents more than 50% of construction, Dealy says. It includes moving some 9 million cu yd of earth and building an 8,400-ft runway and a 5,000-ft runway.

The Florida Dept. of Transportation has committed $119 million and the FAA at least $72 million. The airport authority will draw from $7 million in federal entitlement funds. The new airport is slated for commissioning in 2009.