TR ANSP ORTATION SPECIAL SEC TION
3,300-Foot Lifelines
Remote runway construction takes grit, group effort By Amy Newman
42 | June 2021
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ertain things about life in Alaska are absolutes. Bears will emerge from their dens in the spring. Aurora watchers will chase the Northern Lights in winter. And aviation continues to be a literal lifeline to the 82 percent of communities that lie off Alaska’s road system. “I don’t think it ever hurts to reinforce that aviation is huge for Alaska,” says Angela Smith, aviation group manager for PDC Engineers. “If the planes stop flying in Alaska, it would be a very different world. They play a vital role in most Alaskans’ daily lives that they just don’t even think twice about it.” With more than 2.4 million square miles of airspace, six times more pilots, and sixteen times the number of aircraft (per capita) than the rest of the United States—huge is an understatement. This vast expanse is served by 700 FAA-regulated airports, 235 of which are rural facilities owned and maintained by the Alaska
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