Los Angeles County’s General William J. Fox Airfield Runway Reconstruction Project Earns Envision Bronze Award for Sustainability
The General William J. Fox Airfield Runway Reconstruction project in Lancaster, California, has earned the Envision Bronze award for sustainable infrastructure.
The William J. Fox Airfield Runway Reconstruction project includes the complete reconstruction of Runway 6-24 and associated taxiway connectors. This project also includes the realignment of three taxiways to meet current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) design standards. This is the first Envision award to be granted to a project located at a General Aviation airport and the second Envision-awarded project for the County of Los Angeles. The project is anticipated to begin construction in mid-2019.
C&S Engineers, Inc., a leading engineering company, worked in close collaboration with the County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works to deliver this award-winning, sustainable project.
“The Envision sustainable infrastructure framework is applicable to all types and sizes of infrastructure projects. We see a diversity of project types – both large and small – pursue independent third-party verification and are always pleased to see how well seemingly straight-forward projects, like a runway reconstruction project, are able to perform from a sustainability perspective,” said ISI President and CEO John Stanton. “ISI is pleased to present the Envision Bronze award for sustainable infrastructure to the General William J. Fox Airfield Runway Reconstruction Project. Congratulations to the entire project team on this well-deserved accomplishment.”
C&S’s Carly Shannon was equally impressed by the devotion of the County and project team: “We were fortunate that everyone was at the table early and able to understand how critical priorities for an airport like safety and security are parts of sustainability, not contradictory to it.”
The Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system assesses sustainability in five categories: Quality of Life, Leadership, Natural World, Resource Allocation, Climate and Resilience. These contribute to positive social, economic and environmental impacts on a community during the planning, design and construction of infrastructure projects.
Key sustainable features that contributed to this project earning Envision Bronze include:
Leadership in Sustainability
The County of Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works has an Aviation Sustainability Plan for the five General Aviation airports under its ownership, including the General William J. Fox Airfield. This Plan, coupled with a project-specific sustainability charrette involving all key members of the project team, laid the foundation for sustainability for this project. Some of the recommendations from the charrette that were integrated into the runway reconstruction include implementing an anti-idling policy during construction, coordinating with the airport restaurant to offer lunch discounts to contractors throughout construction to reduce off-site trips and promote the local business, replacing existing equipment with energy-efficient LED signage and taxiway lights, and maximizing use of existing haul routes and disturbed areas for construction staging to avoid impacting undisturbed land. In addition, the team applied a sustainability toolkit for non-LEED projects that was developed as part of Public Work’s sustainability plan preparation.
Improve Site Accessibility, Safety, and Wayfinding
In addition to addressing the pavement condition, one of the main drivers for this project was to comply with FAA standards and guidance. To this end, the configuration of the Airport’s taxiway connectors is being revised; taxiway and runway markings, including runway centerline markings, threshold markings, landing designators, runway holding position markings, and taxiway centerline markers are being updated; and airfield lighting is to be upgraded. Furthermore, taxiways are being renamed to follow standard naming convention and enhance pilot wayfinding.
Efficient Use of Resources
At the outset of the project, the team made it a priority to use materials efficiently and retain as much excavated materials and equipment suitable for reuse on the site. For example, existing runway lighting was deemed to be in good condition and is thus not being replaced on the project. In addition, County staff, tenants, and the project team worked together to creatively and safely implement construction phasing alternatives to reduce impacts to the local community and enhance operational efficiency.
