New Braunfels City Council approved a professional services agreement with KSA Engineering at a meeting March 9.
The agreement calls for design services for the Airport Taxiway Rehabilitation project at New Braunfels National Airport, located at 2333 FM 758.
The background
The New Braunfels National Airport has operated on infrastructure originally built by the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940. Over the decades, the airport's runways and taxiways have required ongoing maintenance to ensure continued safe operations, according to agenda documents.
Previous projects addressed repairs to Runway 17-35, the north ramp, Taxiway A and Runway 13-31. The current project will shift focus to rehabilitating taxiways A, A1, E and F, which require preventive maintenance to preserve the long-term functionality of the airfield—accounting for about 37,000-square-yards of taxiway pavement, according to agenda documents.
The project aims to preserve pavement integrity, reduce foreign object debris and extend the overall service life of the airfield infrastructure, Airport Director Robert Lee said.
“If all goes well, we would be looking at crack sealing, applying a sealant, addressing any areas requiring added attention and afterwards restriping if needed,” Lee told Community Impact.
By the numbers
The total project cost is estimated to cost $285,457. Funding will be largely covered through the Airport Infrastructure Grant program, which the City Council previously authorized staff to apply for Feb 9. The grant will fund 95% of project costs, totaling $271,184, while the remaining $14,273 will be drawn from the city’s airport fund.
What’s next
With the engineering agreement approved, the firm will now move the project through final design and into the bidding phase—which expected to be about 20 weeks—according to agenda documents.
