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The Warsaw Board of Aviation Commissioners signed two contracts at their Tuesday meeting: one with Mid States Engineering for $96,000; and one with Phend & Brown's Construction for $578,874.
The contracts were signed to begin work on extending and repaving taxiway 9-27. The extension of the taxiway is made possible by a federal grant issued to the airport.
According to airport manager David Beall, the board submitted a project application to the Federal Aviation Administration July 18. The grant awarded is for $655,200, which will cover 90 percent of the cost of the taxiway. Warsaw City Council approved an additional appropriation of $41,000 July 31 to cover the city's 10 percent share of the cost.
Runway 27 was extended last year and is now 6,000 feet long. The extension will bring the taxiway to meet the end of the runway. Without the taxiway extension, planes must taxi partway down the runway, turn around and backtaxi the other direction on the runway to take off.
Beall said the taxiway extension is for convenience and added safety.
"It adds another layer of safety," Beall said. "It upgrades the airport."
Construction will start within two weeks. There will be a preconstruction conference Monday at 1 p.m. and the project can begin any time after that. The contracting and engineering companies will have 45 days to complete the project. Beall doesn't anticipate it taking that long, but the project should be finished by Oct. 1.
