Vellore airport runway work likely to be over in 2 months

Work on the 850-metre runway to accommodate 20-seater aircraft was taken up by a Erode-based contractor nearly five months ago.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials during the commencement of the project stated that it would take a year to complete the work. However, sources said that the availability of required sand, enough manpower and machinery have resulted in the smooth functioning of the work.

“Nearly 70 per cent of the work is over as the initial levelling process has been completed. We should now add a layer of gravel for the entire stretch and then asphalt it,” they added. According to a source, the entire stretch was initially uneven, the runway had to be raised by 6 feet on an average. Hence the modification was expected to take time, but the work was going ahead of schedule. The recent rain has turned sand quarries totally wet. Hence nearly 10 trucks that used to procure sand from official quarries were now remaining idle. “We will go for sand loads once quarry sand is used,” sources added.

To ensure a smooth surface for the runway, two road rollers and a grader were used. Workers had also cut a trench across the runway to lay a pipe as part of the plan to ensure free flow of water during rain and to prevent hitches in the operation of the runway.

Meanwhile, technical staff will reach Vellore within a few days to erect and conduct trials of the mobile signal tower, which arrived from Kolkata more than 10 days ago,” according to sources.

“AAI, New Delhi, has been allocating technical staff for similar work at all tier 2 airports in turns and, hence, we hope allotment will be made for Vellore in the next few days,” sources said.