CAA: GA News, "Obstruction study set for Pennsylvania airpark"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sunday, December 2, 2001

Obstruction study set for airpark 
Work shouldn't impact neighbors
By EDWARD SIEGER
The Harrisburg (PA) Express-Times 


FORKS TWP. - Approach patterns at Braden Airpark will be scrutinized
next year, after township supervisors authorized the Lehigh-Northampton
Airport Authority to accept a state grant for an obstruction study.

Larry Krauter, the authority's director of planning and engineering,
outlined the study for the board last month and indicated the study will
likely begin next summer.

Over the past several years, the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation has put a greater emphasis on enforcing the obstruction
of airspace, Krauter said.

In October, the state awarded a $33,750 grant for a study to the airport
authority after inspections showed that several trees and tree lines
encroach on the approach pattern.

A similar study is under way at Lehigh Valley International Airport in
Hanover Township, and an obstruction study was completed at Queen City
Municipal Airport in Allentown.

PennDOT spokesman Kirk Wilson said the state established a set of
regulations in 1984 governing basic design criteria for airports. Braden
had some obstruction violations at the time, but airports built prior to
1984 were allowed to remain licensed, Wilson said.

But when Braden changed ownership in January 2000, it lost its
grandfathered status.

"(The grant program) is an effort with the PennDOT bureau of aviation to
bring airports into regulation," Wilson said.

Krauter said the study will start in the early summer to ensure that
foliage is well established. That's particularly important so the report
accurately shows the depth and density of offending tree lines, he said.

An outside consulting firm will conduct the study, using a technique
called "photogrammetry." From various altitudes over the airpark, aerial
photos will be taken and combined with ground survey data, Krauter said.

Studies employing only ground surveys were often not accurate enough,
Krauter said.

"Looking down from above and mapping vertically just gives you more a
comprehensive look," he said.

The study should take about four months and Krauter hopes to have a
finished report by September.

Measuring about three-quarters of a mile off the end of the airport's
1,965-foot main runway, surveyors will draw a circle from that point and
study that area, Krauter said. 

Neither nearby residents nor passers-by should be affected or notice
when the study is under way, he said.

"It's nearly transparent," Krauter said.

The state grant only covers the obstruction study. If a significant
amount of trees need to be removed, the authority may seek additional
funding, Krauter said.

But when it comes to any other improvements, he said, an accurate
obstruction study is more or less an implied requirement for receiving
additional PennDOT grants.

In March, he presented township supervisors with the authority's
proposed 12-year improvement plan for Braden Airpark. At that time,
Krauter said the authority would pay for the improvements using matching
PennDOT grants.

Some of the proposed changes include creating a 25-foot-wide taxiway
along the main runway and rebuilding run-down hangars.

But before the authority asks for grants to pave hangar aprons, basic
safety must be addressed, Krauter said.

"(Applicants) have to address fundamental issues at airports," he said.
"If you want to ask for grants, you have to have taken care of
fundamental issues before PennDOT funds other projects not as
fundamental."

Township residents have kept a watchful eye on the airport since a
bitter battle against expanding the airport's runway. So Krauter
stressed that the obstruction study does not lead to an expansion.

In fact, the role of the airport is well fixed and Krauter said the
airport's runway will not change.

"A study like this at Braden will have some longevity," he said.


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