Spanish Fork council approves construction of more airport tie-down spaces
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- Tied-down airplanes sit just off the runway of the Spanish Fork Airport on Friday, May 19, 2023.
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- The Spanish Fork-Springville Airport is seen in this aerial shot taken in April 2013.
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- Tied-down airplanes sit just off the runway of the Spanish Fork Airport on Friday, May 19, 2023.
At their meeting on Tuesday evening, the Spanish Fork city council unanimously passed a motion to approve the use of a Federal Aviation Administration grant for the reconstruction of Spanish Fork Airport’s Taxiway Alpha. This project would entail the rebuilding of the runway’s southwest side and later installing more tie-down spaces for airplanes in this area. JUB Engineering aviation planner Neal Fraser expressed the airport’s need for more tie down spaces in an earlier city council meeting on May 2.
“Tie-down space is a big topic of discussion among pilots and airport staff. There’s not any tie down space available at the airport anymore today. We have pretty well run out of space for people to come in and park their aircraft and tie them down. That is somewhat remedied by the project that we’ll have going on soon, but that will continue to be an issue going forward as we see what the growth looks like,” Fraser said.
The airport currently hosts 237 aircraft, several flight schools and a fixed base operator according to a JUB report.
“The City is responsible for a little less than 5% of the cost of the project amounting to about $200,000. Bids for this project came in quite a bit higher than expected but this is consistent with all airport projects, so the FAA has appropriated additional funds to complete the full project,” the city council’s agenda READS.
Bids made by RB Construction & Concrete, Inc. and Staker Parson Materials & Construction were in the millions and the project, which starts this summer, will be carried out in five phases. Pavement in the area needs to be resurfaced and a a new tie down apron area of about 9,000 square yards will be built, according to the report. A timeline for the project is not yet known.
