West runway to be resurfaced

Oslo Airport will be laying new asphalt on the west runway during the spring and summer of 2015.

This work will take place from 11 April, and last tentatively to 2 August. The planned resurfacing work involves the entire runway, including shoulders, and comprises 180 000 square metres. The concrete stopways of the runway, comprising 300 metres at each end, will not be affected by this work.

"The age and condition of the runway require us to lay new asphalt this year. This is a process that must be done every now and then out of consideration for aviation safety, and to ensure that the runway quality is in accordance with the applicable regulations. We have reached that point now," says project manager Runar Botten at Oslo Airport.

This is quite a major undertaking, and it will also pose certain challenges in the operation of Oslo Airport.

"We will obviously have to close all or parts of the runway to complete this work. The work is being split into stages so that parts of the runway can be used while work takes place on other sections. This will help traffic flow as normally as possible. Nevertheless, there will be certain weekends when the airport has just one runway in operation," says Botten.

Some of the work will also be done at night. The west runway will therefore be closed at night during the period when the work takes place.

More noise
The runway resurfacing could entail a slightly different flight path than usual for Oslo Airport's neighbours. Since the east runway will be used more heavily while the asphalt work is in progress, Oslo Airport has applied for and received an approved dispensation from the aircraft noise regulations. This will also include the few aircrafts that are in traffic at night. 

"Neighbours in the area will probably notice a difference in the noise pattern, and we apologize for any inconvenience this might cause; but we simply must perform this job during this period," says Botten.