Kimley-Horn Airport Runway Rehabilitation Project Featured in Airport Improvement

Runway 18-36 at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) needed rehab due to cracking and weathering in the Florida sun. Since this runway serves as PIE’s primary commercial runway, closing it completely was not an option. In collaboration with airport officials, Kimley-Horn designed a plan to switch commercial traffic to a general aviation runway, allowing 24/7 construction access to runway 18-36 and leading to a compressed timeframe of only 12 months. This work included lengthening and installing FAA-required navigational aids on the smaller runway 4-22 to accommodate larger aircraft.

Speaking to Airport Improvement, project manager Paul Piro shared, “No one has ever shifted commercial traffic to a reliever runway. We had to think outside the box to get the work done.”