Lights, electrical next step for Moosomin Airport
September 23, 2024, 10:12 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The new runway is paved, and planes and jets can land at the Moosomin Airport, but only during the day. The next big step for the airport expansion project is lighting and a place to house the electrical equipment associated with the project.
“That’s the next step for us—we need to put the electrical in,” said Dr. Schalk Van der Merwe with the airport expansion committee. “And we need the electrical for the runway lights and the automatic weather observation system that we’re planning for.”
Tenders for the work—including installation of runway, apron, and taxiway edge lighting—were posted to the Sask Tenders website on Sept. 12, with a closing date of Oct. 7.
“It’s a very involved process, and there are fairly strict standards that are set by Transport Canada in terms of where the lights should be, how far away, all those things, because it’s such a safety issue,” Van Der Merwe said. “We’re going to put a lighting system in where the pilot can actually switch the lights on, off his radio from the aircraft. So if you would be coming in to land, then there’s a specific frequency that you dial in on your radio, and you can actually switch the lights on from the aircraft.”
The ARCAL (Aircraft Radio Control of Aerodrome Lighting) system is used by many airports that do not have control towers, which would be the case for Moosomin.
The project timeline all depends on the results of the lighting tender, after which a clearer picture of costs will be known and materials can be ordered.
“It all depends if those components are readily available, and then, of course, we are running into winter so that makes the construction more difficult,” Van Der Merwe said. “We actually don’t know any of that stuff until the tender has been awarded, and we can talk to the company that’s successful for that to see how quickly can things be sourced, how quickly can it be done.”
Even future fundraising goals can’t be determined without first knowing the tender results and the impact it will have on the project.
“It all depends on what the tender comes in at,” Van Der Merwe said.
The $10.6 million Moosomin airport expansion is the result of provincial, municipal, corporate, and private funding. The project includes a 5,000-foot by 75-foot paved runway, along with a new taxiway and apron that were completed this summer.
The funding is sliced four ways between the provincial government, local municipalities, Nutrien, and local businesses and individuals each tasked with contributing their share—roughly $2.65 million.
Van der Merwe called the amount of support to the Moosomin Airport project “mind boggling.”
“We counted over 50 different entities—whether it be municipalities, towns, individuals, businesses—that’s contributed to the project,” he said, admitting it’s difficult to accurately describe the immense level of support the airport project has inspired. “It’s a humbling experience, honestly.”
