Project to rehabilitate airport dike built in 1958

(Middletown, PA – May 15, 2019) – U. S. Transportation Secretary Elain L. Chao announced today the intent to award $20,249,001 in supplemental funding to Harrisburg International Airport for the repair and rehabilitation of the airport levee along the Susquehanna River.   

“We’d like to thank Secretary Chao, Congressman Scott Perry and the Federal Aviation Administration’s Harrisburg District Office for their support of this project throughout the review and approval process,” said Timothy J. Edwards, Harrisburg International Airport Executive Director.  “Due to the complexity and cost of this project, without this supplemental award, we would not have been able to move forward on this important project for many years to come.”   

The project will improve drainage by rehabilitating 13,025 feet of the airport’s levee system.  The levee was constructed in 1958 and only minor maintenance and repair work has been performed on the levee since its construction.  During the past 60 years, erosion, vegetative growth, ice jams, and other natural forces have reduced the cross section and condition of the levee that protects the airport’s infrastructure.  

The two-year project will clear vegetation, fill animal burrows, restore cross-section, reconstruct the levee toe and install an Articulating Concrete Block mat system to protect the levee face from future erosion.  The project will preserve the levee system and protect the airport’s single runway, approach lighting system, and other critical infrastructure that supports airlines, air cargo operations, General Aviation, and operations of the 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. 

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About Harrisburg International Airport:
Five airlines serve Harrisburg International Airport (HIA) offering nearly 70 flights daily to 13 year-round and two seasonal non-stop destinations.  The Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority (SARAA) owns HIA, Capital City Airport in New Cumberland and both Franklin County and Gettysburg Regional Airports.  Incorporated in 1997, SARAA is a multi-municipal authority whose mission is to serve the region by providing high quality, efficient airports and promoting regional economic development.  Combined these four facilities handle about 90,000 aircraft operations and generate a total economic output of more than $990 million annually.