THE long-awaited repair work on the Tokua Airport runway in Kokopo District, East New
Britain province, commenced last Tuesday.
The project, funded by the National Airports Corporations (NAC) at a cost of K12 million, will take four months to be completed by contractor Hebou Constructions Limited.
The airport is currently undergoing pavement repairs and overlaying of asphalt on the
300 meters by 12 meter damaged part (pothole) of the 1, 720-meter runway, that was
believed to have been caused around the early 2000s as heavier aircraft were
introduced to the airport.
The damaged part of the runway has reduced its length since; thus, airliners
downgraded their services to smaller planes like Dash 8 and Q400.
The maintenance work is carried out on the central part of the runway by the contractor.
ENB Governor, Michael Marum and Gazelle MP Jelta Wong visited the work site a day after the commencement.
The reconstruction work covers excavation of pavement, construction of cement treated
basecourse pavement, asphalt overlay and grooving, runway line markings and
drainage improvement.
Mr Russel Paliai said: ” that the runway repair is on stage one which will cover a length of 850 meters by 12 meters width and will take a duration of 6 weeks.”
Paliai is the Tokua Operations Manager for National Airports Corporation (NAC).
“The runway is reduced by 850 meters and we are only expecting Dash 8 to land. The
first stage involves the removal of the old asphalt, then the laying of cement, followed by
placing of newer asphalt,” he said.
Hebou Construction Ltd shipped the asphalt materials from Port Moresby and the
asphalt plant and pugmill from Lae for the maintenance work on the runway.
The repair work is aimed at fixing the damages on the 1,720-meter runway, and to build
a stronger pavement that is durable and can withstand the weight of bigger planes.