BLAKE FIELD AIRPORT
DELTA, CO

AIRPORT OVERVIEW

Blake Field is the primary airport for Delta County, Colorado. Located at the base of the Grand Mesa, the airport provides critical support for both the City and County of Delta. It serves as a busy base for skydiving, business aircraft, and repair operations, as well as recreational and training flights. Blake Field is also adjacent to the Devil’s Thumb Golf Course, and sees frequent flights come in to play a round of golf. Blake Field Airport has been an Armstrong client since 2006. Since then, we have completed numerous AIP projects, a few of which are outlined below.

FAA Identifier: AJZ
Airport Activation Date: March 1962
Elevation: 5192.9 ft
Physical Address: 870 1575 Rd. | Delta, CO 81416

PLANNING SERVICES

AIRPORT MASTER PLAN

Delta County desired to update the Airport Master Plan for Blake Field to address key issues, objectives and goals pertinent to the airport’s development.  The AMP Update included addressing the needs of the community and providing a program for realistic development. The previous AMP for Blake Field was completed in 2005 and therefore needed to be updated to reflect current design standards and existing conditions.

Armstrong retained responsibility for the technical aspects of the planning study and assured the coordination with and exchange of information between all parties in order that the overall project was completed in a timely and quality manner.  This included the Armstrong team, airport management and Delta County staff, Planning Advisory Committee (PAC), interested parties including other government bodies, FAA and CDOT.

The overall goal of the Airport Master Plan was to provide the framework to meet existing and future aviation demands that allowed the airport to operate in a safe and cost-effective manner, while considering potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts.

ENGINEERING SERVICES

RUNWAY RECONSTRUCTION

Runway 3/21 was reconstructed after serving its full useful life of over 20 years. This project was engineered and constructed in 2018. The runway reconstruction involved the demolition of the existing asphalt, removal of failed base course materials, placement of new subgrade, base course, and asphalt pavement. The runway had been extended previously, and had multiple pavement sections in place. This required removing and replacing select portions of subgrade material to make the runway section consistent along its entire length. By only replacing the select areas, the project cost was kept at a minimum while still providing the homogenous layers that will mitigate future pavement degradation due to potential ground heaving. Additionally, the runway lighting system was upgraded to a can and duct system, with LED lights throughout the airfield, including newly installed REILs. To enhance the usability of the airfield an end connecting taxiway was built, and an existing straight-through taxiway from the apron area to the runway was removed to maintain compliance with FAA design standards.

VALUE ADDED SERVICES

To help accommodate the airport during the reconstruction of the runway, Delta County built a crosswind runway to continue to allow vital operations for tenants. Armstrong provided planning support and general guidance on appropriate dimensions for the dirt crosswind runway as a Value Added Service for the airport.  We regularly assist the County with their Airport Capital Improvement Plan and any Hangar Development Requests.

 

LIGHTING SYSTEM UPGRADE

As part of the Runway 3/21 reconstruction project, the existing Medium Intensity Runway Lighting (MIRL) system was replaced. The runway lighting system was upgraded to a can and duct system, with LED lights throughout the airfield, including newly installed REILs. In addition to MIRL system replacement, existing guidance signs were replaced with new lighted guidance signs, the constant current regulator was replaced, “home-run” cable runs for the MIRL, PAPl’s, and supplemental wind cone was replaced with new conduit and cabling.

 

PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE

This project included the maintenance of airfield pavements on Runway 3/21 and Taxiways A, A1 and A2. This work consisted of sealing of cracks, placing a rejuvenating fog seal and remarking the areas of all pavements. The crack sealer met the requirements of ASTM D6690. All cracks to be sealed were thoroughly cleaned. Cracks less than 1/8 inch in width were not sealed. Cracks between 1/8 inch and 1/2 inch width were routed and filled. Cracks wider than 1/2 inch were not routed. All excessively deep cracks were prefilled to within

1 inch of the surface with sand prior to filling. Sand was applied to the runway pavement surfaces following the application of the fog seal to increase friction. No sand was applied to the other surfaces. Pavement markings met the FAA AC 150/5340-1 and the markings included Type 1, gradation A glass beads.

APRON RECONSTRUCTION, BYPASS TAXIWAY, FUEL SYSTEM

APRON RECONSTRUCTION (2010)

This project consisted of approximately 5,900 square yards of apron expansion north and east of the existing apron and included eight new aircraft tie-down locations.

The construction included earthwork, drainage, base course, asphalt paving, pavement marking, and new tie-down anchors. Approximately 1,630 square yards of pavement was constructed over subgrade, subbase and base course that was placed as part of AIP 08/09. Surface preparation and density testing was performed to ensure proper compaction and grade prior to constructing the pavement.

RECONSTRUCT BYPASS TAXIWAY (2011)

The existing Runway 21 Bypass Taxiway pavements were constructed in the mid-1990s and were beginning to deteriorate.  Reconstruction was required to bring these pavements back into serviceable condition and continue the operational utility of the taxiway.

The project included reconstruction of the full pavement section of Runway 21 Bypass Taxiway. The construction involved removal of the existing pavement section, construction of new base course, asphalt paving, pavement marking, and installation of new retroreflective edge markers. An access road was also constructed to serve as the primary access for construction and future maintenance traffic to the east end of the airport.

INSTALL A JET FUEL SYSTEM (2014)

A new Jet A fuel system was installed adjacent to the existing 100LL fuel system and piped underground to the existing fuel islands. A replacement was not required for the existing fuel card reader, it was upgraded to handle the Jet A fuel sales. The project included a 12,000 gallon Jet A fuel tank, fuel pump, piping, and dispenser.