Detroit runway closre may cause delayes
Duh_OZ
Overview of layout:
http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20090629&Category=METRO05&ArtNo=906290315&Ref=AR&Profile=1414
snip:
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Romulus --A rough winter and bureaucratic delays have left one foul-
weather runway at Detroit Metropolitan Airport unusable for the
summer, raising the possibility of flight delays during inclement
weather.
A few holdups have already resulted because pilots couldn't use the
idle runway -- one of two "crosswinds" strips -- and the problem could
escalate if summer storms whip up heavy winds from the west, forcing
the closure of Metro's four parallel runways.
The runway, 9L/27R, slices through the center of Metro Airport's
airfield.
"It's past its useful life," said Scott Wintner, a spokesman for the
Wayne County Airport Authority, the agency responsible for airport
operations.
Rehabilitation of the runway is a top priority project for the
airport, one that became particularly urgent in February when 9L/27R
was shut down.
Wild temperature undulations over the winter put the strip through a
rough-and-tumble freeze/thaw cycle that left potholes and cracks
marring what would normally be one of Michigan's smoothest pieces of
pavement.
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