From the Flight Deck

It’s down to a few i dots and t crosses, but the first part of the concluding chapter of Marshfield Municipal Airport’s safety improvement project is pretty much a wrap. After weeks of removing the old asphalt and 32 inches of soil from the small east ramp and south side of Shoreline Aviation’s jet hangar – and then after mixing new grades of soil bases, with formulas using some of the old with much new, plus stone for drainage – finish coats of new asphalt have been laid, ready to get busy with aircraft traffic.

Next up – the main ramp area between the administration/terminal building and Shoreline’s maintenance and jet hangars. This is the paved open space where aircraft park, load, fuel, tie down, and traverse to access the taxiways and runway. It too will have its old asphalt removed and a deep cut of old soil dug up, followed by new soil layers designed to provide a stable foundation. Cover that with a couple of new layers of asphalt, and that would complete the 23-years-in-the-making airport safety improvement project.

Construction is being handled by Lawrence Lynch Corp. The project was designed by Airport Solutions Group, which is overseeing the work.

Workers measure for tiedown installations on the east ramp.

While the main ramp is being worked, beginning the week of August 4, aircraft owners and charter clients will be asked to park their vehicles in front of the terminal building on Old Colony Lane, and Shoreline personnel will transport them to access hangars and departure locations. The normal access at Gate 2 (next to the terminal) will be closed during this phase. The entire project is expected to be finished in September, concluding the process begun in 2002.

The first phase, concluding in 2014, saw the construction of a new runway 3,900 feet long, compared to the former runway’s 3,000 feet. Also, the runway was widened from 75 feet to 100 feet. These were deemed important safety measures, allowing aircraft to take off and land more safely.

The ramp at the south side of Shoreline Aviation’s jet hangar was finished along with the east ramp, to ensure aircraft access for charter clients.

Enhancing airport safety is a high priority for the Marshfield Airport Commission and airport fixed base operator Shoreline Aviation, as well as the FAA and MassDOT’s Aeronautics Division, which fund and administer a grant, respectively, financing most of the project. This project brings the airport to current FAA standards.

This project is part of the Land Use with Higher Potential Pollutant Loads (LUHPPL) initiative, a conditional order to the runway program. It is a complete reconstruction and improvement of the main ramp to its borders with Taxiway Alpha (which parallels the runway) and is essential to ensure continued operational safety and environmental compliance.

The east ramp looking along Taxiway Alpha eastward.